Learning Curve
by Nytel
Summary: Jen gets some private self defense lessons. RononKeller. Spoilers up to 408. Note: I've decided to continue this story, so just ignore the 'the end' at the bottom of chapter 1.
1. Chapter 1

**Learning Curve**

Jen opened the door to her room and couldn't help but smile when she saw her bed. It had been a _long_ day, and right now she could think of nothing better than grabbing a quick shower and curling up in bed with a novel. She picked out a clean set of clothes and was headed for the small washroom when she heard a page go out over the wireless system.

"_Doctor Keller, come in please."_ It was Colonel Carter's voice.

Jen silently wished she'd imagined the sound, but knowing she hadn't she tapped her earpiece. "Yes, Colonel?" She responded, doing her best to keep from whining.

_"If you're not busy, I'd like to see you in my office."_

Jen sighed quietly and dropped her clothes in a pile on the floor. "I'll be right there."

As she made her way to Colonel Carter's office she tried her best to think of what this might be about. Jen had gotten her weekly report in on time, if only barely, and there hadn't been any major medical crises lately, unless one counted the staff shortage. Other than that... Jen was clueless.

When she reached Colonel Carter's office, she saw that the other woman was just shutting down her computer for the night. Jen let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. Thankfully it looked like whatever this was wouldn't take very long.

She raised her hand to knock on the doorframe, but before she had the chance Colonel Carter looked up from where she was seated behind the desk. "Come in," she said pleasantly, as she folded the laptop screen down.

"You wanted to see me?" Jen asked. The second the words passed her lips she clamped her mouth shut. Of course the Colonel wanted to see her, it was the reason she'd been paged. God, it really had been a long day.

"Yes," Colonel Carter said, giving her a small smile. "I wanted to talk to you about the mandatory self-defense training."

Jen felt her body tense. "Um, I know you sent out an email with all the time slots, and told us to sign up, but none of the times are going to work for me. I'm sorry, but until the next group of doctors arrives from Earth I'm needed in the infirmary all day long, and some nights."

Colonel Carter leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk. "Yes, I realize that. Thankfully everyone else on the expedition team has been able to find a time slot that works for them, but in a way that makes it harder to find a way to fit you in. I was hoping that if there were enough people we might be able to schedule a late class for the group of you."

"You mean I still have to take the lessons?" Realizing that she was making herself sound like a snob, Jen rushed to clarify. "I just thought that with all that's going on with the medical department, and seeing as I'm needed there pretty much all the time, I'd be exempt. At least until the new doctors arrive."

Sam smiled sympathetically. "Unfortunately mandatory means everyone. As much as I hate adding more to your plate right now, the second I start making exceptions is the second I'll have a hundred scientists arguing with me to try and get out of it. And I'm sorry to say this, but these lessons are a direct result of the mission you went on with Teyla to New Athos. I believe you of all people realize how important it is to have some knowledge of basic self-defense."

Jen felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and she averted her eyes. "Right."

Colonel Carter didn't seem to notice. "Luckily someone has volunteered to give you lessons whenever you can fit them in."

Momentarily forgetting her embarrassment, Jen looked up questioningly. "Who?" The only person she could think of who would do that was Teyla, but seeing as she was pregnant and Jen herself had ordered Teyla to stay away from excess physical exertion, she knew that wasn't the case.

Colonel Carter smiled. "Ronon."

Jen felt her stomach knot up. "Ronon?"

"Yes. In fact he's probably the best teacher you could ever have seeing as how he knows more about hand to hand combat than anyone else on Atlantis, military personnel included."

"Oh," Jen said weakly. "That's…great."

"Good, it's settled then. You meet with him for the first time nine o'clock tomorrow evening. After that the two of you can schedule times to meet which are convenient for both of you."

Jen nodded and clasped her hands together in front of her body, keeping them from trembling. "Is that all?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, that's everything. Have a good evening."

"I'll try," Jen said, even though she was sure that would not be the case.

* * *

As it turned out Jen had been right. Her evening had not been pleasant, not even slightly. She'd spent the entire five hours she'd had to sleep lying in bed worrying about her training session with Ronon. It wasn't that she didn't like Ronon, because she did, even though she hadn't spent all that much time with him. It was more the fact that he towered over her, had huge muscles, and could probably snap her like a twig if he wanted to.

He knew exactly what he was doing, and he would either laugh at how pathetic she was, or else just give up on her after only a few minutes. And it certainly didn't help that he was one of the sexiest men she'd ever laid eyes on. She could feel herself becoming flustered just thinking about spending hours alone with him.

Jen took a deep breath and shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind. Their training session was hours away, and there were several things she needed to get done before then, including taking inventory of Atlantis' medical supplies so she could place an order to Earth by the end of the week. She grabbed her clipboard off her desk and headed towards the storage room, forcing herself not to look at her watch and count the hours until her inevitable humiliation.

Once she began to truly focus on her work, the day went by quickly, too quickly. It seemed like in no time it was eight o'clock and she was getting ready to end her shift for the night. Surprisingly enough by eight thirty Jen had everything wrapped up, or at least so much as it needed to be for the time being. Glancing at her watch she bit her lip nervously. It was almost time.

Her stomach twisted and a wave of nausea passed over her. Maybe she'd just turn out to be so horrible that Ronon would give up before she had a chance to embarrass herself too badly. It wouldn't be great, but certainly better than the alternatives her mind was thinking up.

She left the infirmary and headed towards her room. First thing first, she needed to change, and then she would face her impending doom.

* * *

Ronon paced the gym as he waited for Doctor Keller to show up, still not quite sure how he'd gotten himself in this position. Two days earlier he'd been walking with Sheppard when Colonel Carter had stopped them so she could talk to John. Ronon hadn't been fully paying attention, but caught enough of the conversation to know it was about the new mandatory self-defense classes that had been issued. For some reason the sound of Doctor Keller's name had caught his full attention, just in time for him to hear about the predicament with the scheduling. John had been about to make a suggestion, but before he could say anything Ronon had jumped in and offered to teach her. He'd received two semi-puzzled looks, but no objections, which brought him to the gym tonight.

He wasn't sure what had possessed him to do it. It's not like he knew the doctor that well. They'd worked together on occasion and she'd stitched him up after a few of his rougher sparring sessions, but that was about it. Maybe it had something to do with the determination he'd seen on her face in spite of the fear when she'd been rescued off of New Athos with Teyla. Or maybe it had been something else entirely… he honestly didn't know, but surely there had to be some reason he'd been so quick to volunteer.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open. He turned on his heel to see Doctor Keller enter the room slowly. He took a moment to simply observe her. Thankfully she seemed to be wearing appropriate clothing: some type of stretchy pants, a tight fitting shirt and running shoes, nothing stupid like some of the Atlantis personnel donned for their first lessons.

"Um, hi," she said quietly as she made her way towards him in the middle of the room.

He nodded his head at her. "You ready?"

Her eyes widened and immediately he noticed her body tense, enough so that she looked like someone had just replaced her spine with a metal rod. She nodded her head slightly, but she didn't look ready, not in the least. Ronon knew he would have to proceed carefully.

"How much do you know already?" He inquired, keeping his voice soft, as the doctor seemed likely to spook at any sudden or loud noise.

He watched her closely as she swallowed before answering. "Nnn…none."

"Good. This way I won't have to unteach you any bad habits."

She stared at him with a sort of scared expression, but nodded her head anyway.

"Okay," he said. "Let's start."

He closed the small distance between them and placed his arms on her shoulders, pretending not to notice how she started at his touch. He positioned her body so that it was square to her feet, and used his right foot to tap the inside of her legs until they were shoulder width apart.

"Now bend your knees."

She did, but more than was necessary.

"Less," he said quietly as he tugged her shoulders up until her position was satisfactory. "Now I'm going to come at you, and I want you to do whatever defensive move comes naturally." He thought he saw her face pale, but once again she nodded, so he continued.

He took a few steps back and began circling around her, eventually deciding for the simple frontal assault. He'd barely begun to move into the initial lunge when she let out a small squeak and brought both her arms up to cover her face, while turning her body and crouching at the same time. When she realized that he had stopped she uncovered her face and stood back up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said hurriedly, her face flushing a deep red.

"It's okay," he replied calmly, for the first time realizing just exactly how different this would be from training with another fighter. He may have to get creative. "Try again."

The doctor did her best to reposition herself into the stance he'd shown her, but it wasn't quite right. He corrected her footing before stepping back and once again walking around her. He was quick to notice the panicked look in her eyes. One more try, and if that didn't work he'd have to come up with something else entirely.

This time when he moved towards her, she was even quicker in her response, but unfortunately it was exactly the same one as last time. Ronon stopped his movements completely and let his arms hang loose at his sides. "I'm not actually going to hurt you," he said hesitantly, wondering if that was the problem.

"I know that," she responded instantly as she straightened up, obviously embarrassed.

"Then why are you flinching?"

She gulped audibly. "I don't know!" She replied, almost hysterical. "Maybe because you're fifty bazillion times bigger than me, and you could snap me in half with your pinky if you wanted to!"

He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "What?"

She started shaking and wrapped her arms around her torso. Keeping her eyes focused on the floor of the room she spoke in a somewhat calmer voice. "Look, I don't know why you volunteered to help me, but I'm hopeless. You should just leave now; let someone else deal with me."

Realization dawned on Ronon as he finally put the pieces together. He had known people who lacked confidence in themselves before, in fact everyone suffered from it from time to time, himself included. However, this appeared to be on the end of the extreme. It bothered him that someone as talented and kind as Doctor Keller could doubt herself so much. It also made him absolutely determined to help her learn the basics of self-defense.

"I offered to help because I wanted to," he stated evenly. He thought he might have heard a muffled sound of surprise, but he continued. "Now, what do you normally do for exercise?"

The question had obviously caught her off guard as she whipped her head up to look at him with a confused expression on her face. "What?"

He repeated the question just as calmly as the first time.

"Um, sometimes I run," she said hesitantly, like she didn't know if that was the answer he was looking for or not. "But in the past few weeks I really haven't had the time, because… because of the staff shortage in the infirmary."

He smiled at her. "Okay, then let's run."

"Run?" She inquired cautiously. "Why would we run?"

"Because you're not going to learn anything when you're that stiff," he explained, indicating her awkwardly tense posture.

Surprise, and a hint of something else lit up her face. "You mean you're not giving up on me?"

"No."

She made a noise of disbelief in the back of her throat. "You mean not yet."

He shook his head. "No, I mean I'm _not_ giving up on you."

"Oh," she said quietly, obviously taken aback. "Okay."

* * *

Jen found running with Ronon to be unexpectedly okay, she'd certainly had worse running partners in the past. He let her set the pace, didn't talk, just ran. It was good, especially since it allowed her to focus her attention on other things, and by the time they made it back to the gym she thought she'd managed to regain a decent amount of composure. It came as a relief, especially since it appeared that Ronon was determined to teach her. Honestly, his patience had surprised her. Maybe this wouldn't turn out to be quite the horrible ordeal she'd been expecting.

Jen sat down on one of the gym mats and began stretching out her legs. She didn't dawdle, but neither did she rush, as she didn't want to cramp up later on. Nearby Ronon was stretching as well. A few minutes later she finished, and when she stood up she noticed Ronon watching her.

"You're a good runner," he stated.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Well, thanks. But it's not like I'm as good as you. You know, seeing as how you were a runner for several years."

He shrugged his shoulders. "You're still good."

She found herself smiling back easily. "I'll take that as a compliment then."

"Are you ready to try again?" He asked as he made his way toward the center of the gym.

Jen took a deep breath and followed. She still wasn't thrilled about the idea, but she figured she was as ready as she'd ever be. "I guess so," she replied honestly. "It's not like I have much choice in the matter." He gave her an odd look. "Sorry," she said quickly, wishing she could take the last part back. Ronon was going out of his way to help her and she certainly wasn't making things go smoothly for him. "Yes, I'm ready," she said, putting as much conviction into her voice as she could.

"Good," Ronon said. "Now get into the ready position I showed you."

Jen took another deep breath before placing her feet at the required width apart, and squaring her shoulders.

"Bend your knees," he reminded her, and Jen corrected her stance. "Good. Now whatever I do, don't flinch."

That certainly hadn't been what she was expecting. "What?" She asked, unable to keep the puzzlement concealed.

Ronon stared at her. "If you're going to fight someone, you can't be flinching."

She felt her cheeks beginning to warm, but she didn't break his gaze and nodded her head. "Okay."

"So I'm going to do whatever I can think of to make you flinch, and you're not going to. Okay?"

"Um… so what kind of things are we talking about here?"

He shrugged. "It's a surprise."

The first thing Ronon did was lunge at her. He didn't touch her; in fact he barely came within five feet of her. Her eyes instinctively flew shut and she jumped a little bit, but it certainly wasn't as bad as the last time. When she opened her eyes she saw him smiling at her. "Better, but not perfect."

The second time he yelled. The noise was unexpected and although she still started, her eyes at least remained open, which was an improvement. Ronon's reassuring smile gave her a boost of confidence. This wasn't so hard. She'd had scarier Profs in med school.

Ronon continued doing anything and everything he could to possibly make her flinch. He screamed, ran at her, threw things at the benches, even invaded her personal space, but by the end none of it had any affect on her. The last thing he did was stand in front of her and flick her forehead over and over again directly between her eyes. Not too hard, but she definitely felt it, and she didn't blink. Actually, it was much harder to keep from laughing than flinching, though she did manage both.

After a few seconds Jen became fed up with the constant annoyance and reached up, flicking Ronon once directly between the eyes. Caught off guard, he blinked, and a stunned look covered his face for half a second. She was about to apologize when he grinned. "I guess you win."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess I do."

"You ready to move on?"

"You mean am I ready to move past the water bottle throwing, screaming, psychotic running around and forehead flicking?" Grinning from ear to ear, she said, "Yes, most definitely," with no hint of hesitation. This was actually turning out to be, might she dare say, fun?

"Good," Ronon said as he a step back and widened his stance to match hers, in a move that seemed to be instinctive. "I'm going to show you basic blocks first, how to deflect a blow from an opponent. First we start with a frontal attack."

Jen listened carefully as Ronon told her what to do. Then he slowly guided her through the actions, correcting her positioning when needed, and adding encouragement when that was needed also. After a short time he was 'attacking' her in slow motion, and she was using the move he'd shown her to deflect his punches. She felt awkward and out of place, but Ronon assured her that with more practice it would come to feel like second nature.

Soon they were moving on to other basic blocks. After the third he told her he was going to test what she'd learned so far.

"What do you mean?" She asked, feeling the nagging self-doubt again.

"I'm going to attack you and I want you to defend yourself however you can."

"So you mean with the moves you showed me."

He nodded. "Yes, but anything else that works is fine too. It doesn't even have to be pretty. Self-defense isn't about style, it's about survival." He paused for a moment, looking at her intently. "You ready?"

She nodded her head with assurance. The next thing she knew he was throwing a punch, probably not at full speed for him, but certainly faster than before. At the last second she managed to use the second block he'd shown her, and then without thinking she used the first as he spun and threw another punch, but this time with his left hand. He continued dishing it out, and she kept holding her own. Just as she thought she couldn't handle any more, he did something she'd never seen him do before. It was some sort of spin that brought his body in close to hers, with his arms reaching around to pin her arms to her sides. But somehow, before he could complete it, she slipped one hand up to his side and wriggled her fingers along his ribcage.

Ronon never managed to get her arms pinned because he had started laughing the moment her fingers touched his apparent ticklish spot. She had no idea what had possessed her to tickle him, but he had said to do anything that would work, and this worked. However, after a second the full realization of what she'd done sank in, and she pulled her hand away from him like he was on fire.

Not sure what she should do or say, she simply stood there, mostly out of breath, mouth partially open, staring at him. It didn't take more than a second for Ronon to recover from her 'attack', but when he did she noticed that he looked about as shocked as she felt.

Then, slowly, the corners of his mouth turned upwards in a smile. "I didn't know you were going to fight dirty."

She opened her mouth to protest, but instead of words coming out a shriek did. Ronon had reached for her ribcage, evidently intent on getting revenge. He tickled her sides without mercy and she was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. She tried to squirm away from him, but he was quick. Reacting without thinking, she began to tickle him back.

Soon the sounds of both their laughter filled the gym as they did everything they could to out-tickle each other. Just when Jen thought she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, one of them tripped. She didn't know who, or how, but the next thing she knew they went tumbling onto the mat.

Ronon twisted them so that he landed first, on his back, and she ended up straddling him. His hands were splayed just above her hips, but they weren't moving. Hers were resting on his chest and remained stationary as well.

Both of them were breathing loudly, and it was the only sound in the now otherwise quiet room. Jen felt her gaze pulled to Ronon's, and when their eyes locked she couldn't draw away. The sounds of their labored breathing became less noticeable, though she wasn't sure if it was because they were beginning to catch their breath, or if it was due to the fact that everything seemed to have faded into the background. All she found herself able to focus on was the intensity of Ronon's stare, which seemed to be way more powerful than it should be.

Before she had a chance to even begin to consider what that meant, the sound of several voices registered in her mind. With each passing second they were getting louder and the realization that someone was coming was enough to bring her swirling back to her senses. Ronon had obviously noticed too, as they both tried to get up at the exact same time. Unfortunately, seeing as how she was on top of him, it didn't quite work. If it weren't for Ronon's astonishingly quick reflexes she would have ended up tripping over her own feet and landing flat on her ass.

Not even a full second after they managed to get themselves righted, the door to the training room slid open and Major Lorne stepped through followed by a handful of marines.

"Ronon," he said, sounding surprised. "Isn't it a little late to be working out?" Then he noticed Jen. "And Doctor Keller, I can't say I was expecting to see you here. Don't I have an appointment with you after my shift in…" He glanced at his watch. "…less than six hours?"

Panicking slightly, she looked at her own watch. Sure enough it was well past midnight. "Yes, you do."

Lorne nodded his head. "Alright, well unless either of you need anything, we'll head back to doing our rounds."

"We're fine Major," Ronon said quickly.

Lorne nodded and led his team out of the room and the door slid shut again.

Jen looked at Ronon, trying to ignore the almost awkward tension in the air. "I'm sorry, but I really should be going. I'm on shift in much less time than I'd like."

Ronon nodded. "Alright, I'll see you later, Doc."

"You can call me Jen," she said, almost timidly, as she smiled.

She headed for the door, and was about to leave when she remembered that this wasn't a one-time session. She hadn't managed to scare Ronon off as her teacher, which meant she'd be coming back. Looking back over her shoulder, she asked, "When do you want to meet next?"

"Whenever you want," Ronon replied sincerely.

"How about tomorrow night, same time?" Her voice sounded a tad bit too excited, but maybe he hadn't noticed.

"Sounds good." Or from the smile he was giving her, maybe he had.

She gave him one last look before turning and leaving. She was about ten feet down the hallway when she heard the door open behind her.

"Jen," Ronon called out after her.

She stopped and turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Next time, no tickling," he said in a serious voice. She would have believed him if it weren't for the mischievous twinkle in his eye and the smile tugging at his mouth.

The End


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I am merely borrowing them. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 2**

Ronon sat in the mess hall the next morning, eating his food, but not really tasting it; his mind was too preoccupied. It was early and the dining area was quiet, leaving him with nothing to do but think, and there seemed to be only one thing his mind wanted to concentrate on: Dr. Keller, or Jen as she'd told him to call her.

He'd spent almost four hours with her the night before, teaching her self-defense. Or at least the last two hours had been spent instructing her; the first two had been spent putting her at ease enough so that she could learn.

It wasn't even that long to be around one person. He'd spent longer than that with probably a quarter of the people in the city, but for some reason she was invading his thoughts like none of them had. There was just something about her, and he didn't even know what that _something_ was, but it had caught his attention and wouldn't let go.

Ronon was still deep in thought as he took another bite of his pancakes and began to chew.

Teaching her the night before had been fun, which was something he hadn't been expecting. Normally whenever he helped out with the training of any personnel, he felt good, but only because he knew he was in some small way helping out the people who had helped him. It was never something he liked enough to say that he enjoyed.

Training with Jen had been different. And that wasn't even including what had happened at the end of their session. When he'd told her to defend herself in any way possible, he hadn't been expecting her to use tickling as a defensive measure. She'd caught him completely off guard, something no one else on Atlantis had ever achieved, and he'd retaliated by returning the unconventional attack.

Ronon couldn't help but smile as he thought back on it. He didn't think he'd ever laughed so hard or so much in his entire life—the feeling had been utterly intoxicating. Then there had been—he didn't even know how to describe it, not even in his own mind—the moment. It had been right after they'd tripped, when he was lying flat on his back, with Jen straddling his waist. He hadn't felt that kind of connection with anyone since… well, before.

The fact that he was suddenly feeling these things again was frightening. It had been so long… Ronon felt a wave of unease pass over him. At one time in his life he would have known exactly how to proceed and now he simply felt lost. He didn't even know if he was ready to start down that road again. On the other hand, it had been over two years since he stopped running, and he wasn't willing to live forever in the shadow that the wraith had cast upon his life. Maybe, just maybe it was time.

Ronon let the thoughts mull in his mind as he took another bite of food.

He was interrupted by John and Teyla, who were walking towards him chatting quietly, both holding trays laden with food.

"Morning," he said gruffly as they sat down.

Teyla smiled at him. "Good morning, Ronon."

"Hey," John added amiably as he took a drink of his coffee, before spitting it back into his mug as it burned his tongue.

Teyla rolled her eyes at his antics and blew gently on her own mug of the Earth brew before taking a small sip. "Are you ready for our trading mission?" She asked him, as she began to take the wrapper off her muffin.

"Uh huh," he replied absentmindedly, not really concentrating on the conversation.

"Should be a nice change," John said as he started in on his own food. "I don't mind easy every once in a while."

Teyla responded, though Ronon didn't catch the words. He was still thinking about the woman who hadn't left his mind since he'd left the gym the night before.

At some point he realized the other two had stopped talking. Glancing up from his plate he saw they were both staring at him as well.

"Are you feeling alright, Ronon?" Teyla inquired, an air of concern in her voice.

"Yeah," John added. "You seem quiet. Well, more so than usual."

Ronon shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Just tired."

John smirked. "Late night?"

"Not like you're thinking."

John took another drink from his mug. "So what, couldn't sleep?"

Ronon leaned back in his chair. "No. I was teaching self-defense."

"Oh really," John said slowly. "So, how is the doctor doing?"

Before he had a chance to answer, Teyla spoke. "You're teaching the class Dr. Keller is in? I thought she told me she was unable to make any of the scheduled times."

John's grin widened, and Ronon knew he was in for some sort of ribbing. Sheppard turned to look at Teyla as he explained. "No, she couldn't make any of the times, but then Ronon here volunteered to give her private lessons."

Ronon pretended not to understand the innuendo in John's voice even though he did, perfectly well.

Teyla seemed surprised by the information, but also pleased. "That is very kind of you Ronon." If he hadn't seen the questioning look she sent his way, he would have guessed from her voice that she didn't suspect anything.

"Just trying to help," he said simply.

Teyla smiled and John bit back a laugh, which Ronon ignored.

"Where's McKay?" He asked, switching the subject in the hopes of avoiding more questions from his teammates.

"He's meeting us in the briefing room," Sheppard said. "Something about running last minute tests on a piece of equipment in the lab before we meet with Colonel Carter."

Teyla nodded. "Yes, I believe he was just finishing up with one of his many projects." She glanced at her watch. "Perhaps we should be going soon if we wish to meet with Colonel Carter on time."

John checked his watch too. "Yeah, probably a good idea."

The three of them stood up and walked over to drop off their dirty trays before heading for the door. Ronon was leading the way and as he swiped his hand over the sensor John asked him a question. Ronon turned his head to answer, but didn't bother to pause. His feet automatically took him through the doorway, and then suddenly he bumped into someone.

He hadn't been walking fast, but the other person was moving quickly and had been just as preoccupied as him. From the corner of his eye he saw the person stumble, and he reacted instantly, turning and grabbing their shoulders. To his surprise he found himself looking down at Dr. Keller.

"Jen," he said, knowing he sounded surprised.

"Ronon," she replied quickly, a flush rising to her face. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I really need to learn to watch where I'm walking."

"It's okay," he said quietly, vaguely aware that his hands were still on her shoulders.

She smiled shyly, and he returned the gesture. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get the words out they heard a voice from beside them.

"Doc," John said in acknowledgement, barely able to keep the grin off his face.

Ronon's hands flew back down to his sides, and Jen jumped slightly. "Colonel," she said, turning to face him. "And Teyla, sorry, I didn't see you guys." She fidgeted slightly and raised her right hand, revealing a travel mug. "Just getting some coffee before I start for the day." She took a couple steps to the side, moving around them. "So, um, I should just go do that then."

She rushed off through the doors, and both Teyla and John turned to look at Ronon, curiosity written plainly on their faces.

"We're going to be late," he said brusquely as he headed down the hallway toward the briefing room.

* * *

Jen could still feel the lingering flush on her cheeks when she reached the infirmary. She must have sounded like a babbling idiot earlier; surely she could have managed to handle herself with a tad bit more grace. She sighed as she placed the mug of coffee on her desk and tilted her head from side to side, removing a kink from her neck.

It probably hadn't helped that she'd been thinking of Ronon as she was walking. In fact, their lesson had been on her mind continuously from the moment she left the gym until now, with the exception of when she'd been asleep. She was really looking forward to their next session. If all went smoothly in the infirmary she'd be off the same time as yesterday and would make it to the gym just in time. It would be a perfect way to end the day.

Jen didn't have much more time to think about it though, because soon patients started rolling in. First it was Major Lorne who had just come off his night shift. He needed her to give him the all clear for his recently healed ankle so that he could get back to doing fieldwork. After that it was a scientist from the botany department complaining of severe cold like symptoms.

It wasn't long until she lost track of the small ailments people came in for, and the day had become busy to the point of almost insanity, just like it had been every day for the past three weeks. Jen couldn't wait until the new group of doctors arrived from Earth. Even being able to have more than just one twenty minute break for lunch throughout the day would seem like heaven.

By seven thirty in the evening, the flow of people through the infirmary had stemmed, and Jen was working on getting caught up on her paperwork, leaving some of the other doctors to tend to the more long-term patients who would be staying overnight. She was just finishing off the schedule for the next two weeks, filling in her own name for shifts that no one else could fill, when she heard a familiar voice at her elbow.

"Jennifer, I hope I'm not disturbing you."

She started a bit, but calmed the second she recognized it as Teyla's voice. Jen rose from her chair so that she was standing facing her. "Of course not, what can I help you with?"

The Athosian smiled weakly at her, but continued on without any preamble. "I find that sometimes in the morning, I am not… feeling so well."

Jen nodded her head, understanding at once. She took a quick glance around, making sure they were isolated from the other people in the infirmary before she replied. "That's normal at your stage of pregnancy," she said calmly. "Nothing to worry about."

Teyla nodded, seeming relieved. "Is there anything I can do to… lessen the effects? Some days I find it quite hard to bring myself to get out of bed. However, once I eat breakfast, I am fine."

Jen nodded. "There are a few things you can do. The first is to try eating five or six small meals a day as opposed to three large ones. Avoid going to bed on an empty stomach. And I can also give you some vitamins to take, to help lessen the symptoms."

Teyla smiled. "Thank you, I would very much appreciate it."

Jen grabbed the key to the medicine cabinet from the top of her desk. "Just give me half a second and I'll grab some for you." She came back with a small pill bottle in hand and passed it over to Teyla. "Take one every day. It should help."

"Thank you," Teyla said sincerely as she stowed the bottle in the pocket of her jacket.

"Teyla?" Jen asked, a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"Yes?" Teyla responded in an encouraging tone.

Jen inhaled deeply, not sure if she should be intruding into this or not, but seeing as it could become a medical matter, she decided to continue. "You're really going to have to tell them soon, especially since you're still going off world. If something were to happen to you out there, they need to know."

Teyla nodded and a somber look fell across her face. "I did."

"Oh," exclaimed Jen, thoroughly shocked. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had."

"Almost five day ago now," Teyla continued on in explanation. "It was… difficult."

Jen gave her a sympathetic smile. "I can't even imagine."

"Ronon seemed to… take it in stride as they say. Rodney and John on the other hand… I believe it was very unexpected for them to hear." Teyla sighed and gave Jen a small smile. "I do believe however that they are becoming accustomed to the idea."

Jen smiled back. "That's good, I'm glad to hear it." She paused for a second before continuing. "And Teyla?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know how much you know about… pregnancy. And, I mean, I've never been pregnant, but I am a doctor, so if you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Even if I don't know the answer, I certainly know where to find it."

Teyla seemed touched by her words. "I… thank you. It is not customary among my people to talk much of such things unless you are either betrothed or wed, and seeing as I am neither…"

Jen wasn't pleased to see that she had guessed right, but she was pleased that she could offer Teyla some kind of reassurance. The other woman couldn't be much older than herself, and Jen knew she'd be terrified if she was pregnant, and she was a doctor. Then there was the fact that Teyla was strong enough to face all of this without the father of the baby or the comfort of her people, something Jen suspected few other women in either of their galaxies could do.

She reached out and placed a comforting hand on Teyla's arm. "Any time, Teyla, I mean it."

"I may take you up on that," she replied softly. "Though I do not wish to make you any busier than you already are."

"It's really not a problem. I'd rather you ask."

Teyla nodded. "I know, but certainly with the staff shortage, and your new lessons, you are now even more pressed for time."

Jen felt her body tense slightly with the mention of her lessons with Ronon. It almost seemed as if Teyla was probing for something, though Jen had no idea what.

"Well yeah," she replied genially, "But according to Colonel Carter the new doctors should arrive in a few weeks, and after that things will settle down."

Teyla shifted her stance and gave the doctor an inquisitive glance. "How was your lesson with Ronon last night?"

So she had been probing. Thankfully Jen managed to not react in any odd sort of way. "It was good," she said simply, purposefully not mentioning the tickle fight that would probably just sound stupid to anyone who wasn't there.

Teyla smiled warmly. "I'm pleased to hear it. Ronon had a good time as well."

"He did?" Jen asked, puzzled.

"Yes, he told me you had another lesson this evening, and he seems to be looking forward to it."

Jen wasn't quite sure what to make of that information. She knew she hadn't driven Ronon away as her teacher, and that he'd been laughing along with her at the end, but it was something else to know that he was actually looking forward to spending time with her. She felt and unexpected thrill of pleasure flow through her body, and she thought her face might have warmed, just a bit.

"That's good," she said quietly, and Teyla smiled knowingly.

"I should probably be going now. I'll let you go back to your work so that you are not late to meet with Ronon tonight."

Jen began shifting uncomfortably as Teyla stared at her a little too hard. "Okay," she said. "I'll see you later. And remember what I said."

Teyla nodded. "I will. Thank you."

As Teyla left, Jen couldn't help but feel herself begin to get a little nervous about the upcoming lesson. Shaking it off, she replaced the cabinet key on her desk and went back to work. There was no reason to get worked up over this. She'd had a good time last night, at least after the initial fiasco, and she was determined to do so again today.

* * *

Once again Ronon found himself pacing the gym as he waited for Jen to show up. The day's mission had been long and boring, and he was looking forward to doing something other than just sit around and listen to trade negotiations. Though perhaps it was good that the mission had been so bland; it had allowed him to figure things out while he sat there for countless hours.

The more he thought about Jen, the more he realized panicking about things wasn't going to do anyone any good. His life as a runner was long gone, and it looked like this might be the point where he got to fully move past it, to truly live again. Even if nothing came from these… feelings…it was something that they even existed. He'd realized that their existence meant he wasn't just a ruthless warrior anymore, he was human, something he hadn't felt in years. So for now he was content to just let things progress however they did.

Ronon hadn't been waiting very long when Jen stepped through the door. He was pleased to see that this time she greeted him with a huge genuine smile as opposed to stiff nervousness.

"Hi," they both said at the same time.

Jen grinned and laughed. "How was your day?" She asked as she set a water bottle down on a nearby bench and made her way towards him.

"Boring," he replied honestly. "Trade negotiations aren't exactly thrilling."

She grimaced. "Yeah, I can imagine."

"You?"

She paused in front of him. "Busy."

For the first time he noticed how truly exhausted she looked. He was about to offer to postpone the lesson so she could get some rest, but she surprised him by asking if he was ready to start.

He smiled. "Yeah. Do you want to run first again?"

"Could we?" She asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Sure, why not." After all, they were his lessons, and if he said they needed to run first to warm up, then no one could complain.

"Sounds good," she said as she headed back toward the door, Ronon following her. "But how about this time you pick the route."

Instantly he thought of the bridge that he and Sheppard ran across sometimes. It was a bit out of the way, but the view was worth it. "Follow me," he said, smiling as he took off at a moderate paced jog down the hallway.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jen's self-defense lessons became a daily meeting for her and Ronon. The only times they skipped were when there was an emergency in the infirmary to be dealt with, if Ronon got stuck off world overnight, or if one of them had other plans, which was rare. They were entering into their fourth week of sessions, and Jen knew that with the amount of time and effort she'd been putting in, she had probably already covered all of basic self-defense, and was more than likely several steps ahead of the other classes that were being taught. However, she kept her mouth shut and didn't mention this to anyone.

Her lessons with Ronon were the one time in the day when she didn't have to worry about anything other than the moment at hand. Everything else seemed to fall away, and for a few hours she was practically stress free. To be honest, given how crazy things had been around the infirmary as of late, those few hours every night were about all that was keeping her sane.

Ronon and her had also struck up an easy friendship. At first it had totally shocked her that someone like him would even find her remotely interesting. But more and more she found herself becoming accustomed to it, and seeking out his company. She'd come to realize that Ronon was probably the best friend she had on Atlantis.

Briefly glancing up at the calendar hanging above her desk in the infirmary, Jen took note of the date. Her spirits sank as she realized that today was one of those rare days when one of them had plans. She let out a barely audible groan and leaned over, resting her head on folded arms atop the desk. Suddenly the day seemed a whole lot less okay.

The new group of doctors who were coming to Atlantis had been selected, but they weren't here yet, and wouldn't be for a few more days at least. That meant Jen was still in charge of running a severely understaffed infirmary, while also dealing with the task of making things ready for the new personnel. Already today she'd met with Colonel Carter twice, had done the normal checkups, and had also removed a bullet from one marine's leg, and it wasn't even noon.

She let out a sigh and buried her head in against her arms, wishing that she could just fall asleep and not wake up until weeks from now when everything would be back to normal. The knowledge that she still had copious amounts of paperwork to do was enough to make her raise her head, though she was barely able to find the energy to resist the temptation of sleep.

When she turned in her chair to glance at the clock on the wall, she was surprised to see Ronon walking through the infirmary towards her.

"Hey," he said as he pulled up a nearby computer chair and swung it around backwards before sitting down beside her.

"Hey," she replied, giving him a weak smile.

"You okay?" He asked quietly as he rolled closer to her, his voice laced with concern.

Jen felt the corners of her eyes beginning to burn with tears and she knew she was close to exhausted, if in fact she wasn't there already. It took a lot of effort, but she held back the swell of emotion. "Just tired."

Ronon reached across the small distance between them, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You sure?"

Jen nodded, touched by his concern. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Ronon seemed to accept her answer and took his hand away.

"So," she said as she straightened in her chair. "What brings you by here? I don't have to stitch you up again, do I?"

He shook his head smiling. "Nope. Wanted to know if you were busy tonight?"

Jen's face scrunched slightly in confusion. She looked behind her, checking the date on the calendar again, before turning back around. "No. I mean, I didn't think I was. Tonight was the night you couldn't train, right?"

Ronon nodded. "Yeah, it's tonight. It's team game night. I wanted to know if you wanted to come."

Jen was taken aback by the offer. "That's sweet Ronon, but I really couldn't…"

"Sure you could."

She shook her head. "No, it's team game night, and I'm not part of your team."

"Sure you are," he responded quickly. "You're the one who always patches us up when we get hurt." He looked at her, almost pleadingly. "Besides, I asked Sheppard and he said it was fine. He figures McKay's going to give up on the game after a couple of minutes, and Teyla's probably only going to watch… Please?"

Jen felt her resolve melt and she smiled at him. "Okay. I guess I could come."

Ronon grinned broadly and stood up from his chair. "Good. I'll come by and pick you up later."

Unexpectedly, Ronon took hold of the back of her chair, spun it so she was facing the desk, and pushed her in so she could get back to work. When she looked over her shoulder at him, he was already walking away. She stared at his retreating back with an odd expression on her face. Not knowing what to make of it she simply shook her head and went back to work, feeling significantly better than she had before Ronon's visit.

* * *

True to his word, Ronon swung by the infirmary just before eight o'clock to pick her up for game night. Jen was busy running around, putting files away and tiding up for the night when she saw him leaning against the wall close to her desk. "I'll be ready to go in two seconds," she said quickly as she ran over to double check that the medicine cabinet was locked before hurrying back.

"Sure," Ronon said, patiently waiting as she finished up.

She was just shutting down her computer when she smelt something that made both her mouth water and her stomach growl. Folding the laptop screen down, she looked up to see that Ronon was holding something in his right hand. He must have noticed her gaze because he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards her, handing her the tin foil wrapped item. "Figured you forgot to eat supper," he explained as he pressed it into her hand.

Her stomach growled again. "You're a godsend," she said gratefully, smiling at him. She moved to set the food down on the desk, but Ronon shook his head, and she glanced at him curiously.

"Eat," he said simply. "I'll do this."

Too tired to argue, Jen let Ronon finish while she ate. She didn't even need to tell him what to do, he'd seen her do it often enough. Although it took him slightly longer than it would have taken her, it was good, because he finished up at the same time she swallowed the last bite of her beef on a bun.

"Thank you," she said sincerely as she tossed the tin foil into a wastebasket, before wiping her hands on a piece of paper towel that was lying on the corner of her desk.

"Ready to go?" He asked as he looked at her.

She nodded her head and they started walking for the exit. "So where is game night held? I don't think I've ever seen you guys doing anything like this."

"Normally in Sheppard's room," Ronon explained, as he turned left down the hall. "But today he said we need to have it in the gym. Something about his room not being big enough."

Jen felt her curiosity pique. "I wonder what game he has in mind," she mused aloud.

Ronon shrugged. "No idea. Something McKay isn't going to like."

Jen laughed quietly. "I'm not sure that really narrows it down."

* * *

Ronon continuously watched Jen from the corner of his eye as they headed towards the gym. She seemed alright now, but earlier when he'd visited her in the infirmary, she'd just seemed so… distant. He'd been truly worried, and asked her if she was okay. She'd assured him she was fine, though he wondered if she would tell him if she wasn't. He hoped so.

This whole mess with the medical department was putting a lot of pressure on her shoulders. He knew that it was only a matter of time before things were back to semi-normality, but he still wanted to go and yell at Colonel Carter for letting things get this bad in the first place. He wondered if anyone else in the city knew truly how hard she was working, pushing herself to the limit.

Many times he'd been tempted to cancel their lessons until after the relief staff arrived, simply so she could get some rest, but if his guess was right, having that chance to unwind each day was one thing that was keeping her sane. It was why he'd asked Sheppard if he could invite her to their game night, knowing that she needed the brief respite in the evening before going to sleep and getting up to do everything all over again.

_"Sheppard, I need to ask you something," Ronon said bluntly as he sat down at the other man's table in the mess hall._

_John looked up from his book, and put his fork down. "Sure Big Guy, what's up?"_

_Ronon took a deep breath, knowing that he was in for at least a small amount of teasing from his team leader, but not really caring. "I want to know if I can bring someone else to game night."_

_John's face lit up and he leaned forward in his chair. "Oh really…"_

"_Yeah. So can I?" _

John smirked. "Who might this person be?" He asked with an air of knowingness.  


"_You know who," Ronon said simply, not rising to the bait. "Can she come?" _

A more serious look fell over John's face. "Do you really like her?" He asked, no hint of a joke in his voice.

Ronon shifted uncomfortably under the other man's gaze, but he didn't look away. "What if I do?"

John's one eyebrow rose, almost threatening to disappear into his hairline. "Well, um, that's great, Ronon. Really." He paused, still looking the Satedan over with a scrutinizing gaze. "And yeah, feel free to bring her. She's certainly not going to be any less fun than McKay." 

When they reached the gym they found John and Teyla already there, but McKay had not yet arrived. Teyla smiled when they entered, and looked a little surprised. "Jennifer, I did not know you would be joining us. It is good to see you."

Ronon cast a quick look at John, wondering why he hadn't told Teyla. John just shrugged and shifted a box underneath his arm. Ronon then saw the questioning look shot at him by Teyla, but he ignored it. If she really wanted to question him about this, she could do it later, in private.

Before anyone could say or do anything else, Rodney stepped into the room, joining their impromptu circle. "Alright, alright, I'm here," he said grumpily as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Can we just get this little bonding experience over and done with so that I can get back to work?" He seemed to only notice Jen's presence after a few seconds. "What's she doing here?" He asked rudely.

"McKay," Ronon and Sheppard said at the same time.

"What?!" He exclaimed. "I didn't know she was coming. It was just a question, sheesh."

Jen looked around uncomfortably. "I can leave you guys, really, it's fine…"

"No." This time it was all of them that spoke, even Rodney.

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

Rodney sighed. "Yes, it's fine, really. I'm probably going to bail early again anyway. Then you can stay and keep these idiots company instead of me."

The look on John's face showed that he clearly disagreed with Rodney's choice of words, and Ronon was surprised he kept his mouth shut.

"Plus," John added, speaking to Jen. "It'll be nice to finally play a game with someone who understands Earth stuff." He looked briefly at Ronon and Teyla. "No offense you guys."

"Excuse me," Rodney piped up. "Offense taken. _I_ am also from Earth." He was even pointing at himself to emphasis the point.

John shrugged. "Right, sorry. Sometimes I forget."

* * *

Jen was beginning to feel uncomfortable again when Teyla leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Do not worry, they are always like this."

Jen raised one eyebrow in surprise, and had to bite back a laugh. It was a wonder that this group ever managed to get anything done. "So," she said, breaking the silence. "What game are we playing?"

John grinned and pulled the box out from under his arm. Jen smiled the moment she recognized it. "This is going to be fun," she stated.

Rodney on the other hand groaned. "Twister? Are you serious?"

John nodded and took the lid off the box, tossing it a short distance away. "Yep."

"What's Twister?" Ronon asked, looking at the colorfully polka dotted box with confusion.

Jen smiled at him and began to explain as John took the spinner and two mats out of the box.

Once the mats were spread out on the floor, John passed Teyla the spinner. "Teyla has agreed to have the important duty of spinning and telling us where to put our various body parts."

Teyla smiled at Jen and said under her breath, "I believe this will be more entertaining to watch," and Jen couldn't help but smile back, beginning to feel at ease among the group.

"So," John said, looking like he was barely able to refrain from rubbing his hands together in excitement. "We ready?"

"Shoes," Jen said, reminding him as she began to kick off her own. John and Rodney followed suit, but Ronon just stared at them. "Take of your shoes," Jen said as she looked at him.

"Why?"

She smiled. "Just trust me. It's easier without them." He looked at her warily, but toed them off.

"Alright," Teyla said, "Is everyone ready?" When they all nodded she took a seat on the floor beside the mats and spun. "Left foot, blue."

In a jumble of movement they all hurried to place their required limb in the designated spot.

"Right hand, green."

Another flurry of action resulted, one in which Rodney nearly tripped and fell face first, but somehow managed to save himself without touching down and losing. And so the game continued on until they were all contorted about on the mat in a way that truly exemplified the game's name.

Jen had her hands spread about as far apart as they would go, while her feet were on two circles directly in line with each other, making it extremely hard to balance. Ronon had one foot underneath her stomach, and the other somewhere tucked underneath his torso, while his hands were in a similar position to hers. Colonel Sheppard had his left hand directly next to hers and his right was crossed over Rodney's in a way that made it look like they were holding hands. From her position she couldn't quite see Rodney fully, but she could hear the grumbling complaints and knew that he was at least as uncomfortable as the rest of them.

Jen's nose began to itch, but she ignored it. She had a bit of a competitive streak—one that definitely proved useful during med school—and she was not about to sabotage her chances of winning because of an itchy nose.

Teyla spun again and smiled before calling out, "Right foot, blue."

Jen moved her foot quickly, thankful that this position stabilized her balance, though unfortunately it was also stretching places she didn't know she had. The circle Ronon decided to put his foot on left him with his one leg actually on the other side of her, so that she was somehow mostly underneath him. His close proximity made her heart race slightly, but she forced herself to calm down. He was a very attractive man, but he would never feel anything for her other than friendship, so there was no point in getting worked up over it.

The next move required them to put their left foot on blue as well. Given how many of them were playing, as well as how few dots there were, it resulted in a mad scramble. Jen thought they had all managed it, barely, until she heard Rodney's cry of "Oh crap!"

She then heard a thud as he fell over into John, who also fell, knocking her arm out from under her. The sudden loss of support was enough to send her tumbling, which also caused Ronon to slip, and in less than two seconds the group of them were piled on the floor.

"Ow," came Rodney's indignant voice from the far side of the mat.

She wasn't sure who began laughing first, except she knew it wasn't Rodney, but in no time the remaining three were just about splitting their sides from laughing so hard, and she was also fairly certain she heard Teyla join in as well. After several minutes the hilarity of it died away, and when Jen wiped the tears from her eyes she saw Ronon standing over her, offering her a hand up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet with ease.

John was still chuckling, but had managed to stand up as well. "So," he said cheerily. "Who's up for another round?"

Rodney was the first to answer. "Not me," he replied as he stuffed his feet back into his shoes and headed for the door. "I told Zelenka I'd help him finish something off. Plus, this game sucks."

"Right," John replied, rolling his eyes as Rodney exited the room. "Well, what about you two? Again?"

Jen looked at Ronon and smiled, glad that he'd invited her. "Definitely," she replied.

* * *

When Ronon offered to walk Jen back to her rooms after they finished with the game, she looked surprised, but accepted the offer. Once again he ignored the looks that John and Teyla sent his way.

They walked in comfortable silence for the most part; occasionally one of them would make a comment. When they reached Jen's room they paused outside. She looked up at him, a smile on her face, but he also saw lines of exhaustion there.

"Thank you," she said earnestly. "I had a really great time."

Ronon smiled softly. "Me too."

Jen opened her mouth to say something else, but a yawn came out instead. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he responded softly. He watched closely as she leaned against the doorframe and blinked drowsily. As he was staring at her a piece of hair fell free from her ponytail and into her face. His hand moved of its own accord and brushed the stray strand back behind her ear. "Get some sleep," he added gently.

She nodded her head, looking like the action took just about all of the energy she possessed. "I will."

He moved his hand over the sensor on the wall, causing the door to open behind her. "Go," he prompted, inclining his head toward the opening.

She smiled sleepily at him before disappearing into her room.

The door shut and for a moment Ronon stood there, contemplating the evening. The more time he spent with Jen, the more sure he was that this thing between them could go somewhere. It both terrified and exhilarated him. For what seemed like the hundredth time he wondered if she had acknowledged it yet, the attraction, and the connection they had.

He smiled to himself as he began to head for his quarters. No, she definitely hadn't. When she did, she'd start being flustered and tongue-tied around him, and then he'd know.

TBC

**A/N:** I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has left a review. They always inspire me to write more, which is certainly never a bad thing. I do my best to reply to all reviews that are left, but for those 'anonymous' people won't let me. However, I don't want you to think that you are any less appreciated. :) Thanks again!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

Jen woke up the next morning feeling tired still, but good. She smiled as she thought back to the night before. The game night had been a ton of fun, and she was extremely glad Ronon had insisted she go. If he hadn't, she probably would have spent the evening catching up on work, which was infinitely less appealing. 

As she showered and changed, her mind drifted back to what had happened outside of her room. She'd been half asleep already, but she hadn't missed how Ronon had tucked the piece of hair behind her ear. And she could have sworn she saw something in his eyes when he was prompting her to get some sleep. The more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that his actions her based purely in friendship, and that what she'd seen had just been concern for a friend. After all, she was pushing herself to the limit and Ronon was exceptionally observant—he'd noticed, that was all.

When Jen entered the infirmary after grabbing her much-needed mug of coffee, she was surprised to see Colonel Carter waiting for her.

"Colonel. What can I do for you?" She asked, immediately placing the coffee to the side and walking toward where the other woman was standing near Jen's desk.

Sam gave her a faint smile. "I just heard from the SGC about when the new doctors will be arriving."

Jen's face lit up with hope. "That's great!"

Sam shook her head. "No, I'm afraid it's not. They won't be here for at least another week. Additionally the SGC has decided it's pertinent that we expand the medical department. Their reasoning is that since we are giving medical aid to so many other people in the galaxy, as well as our own, we need to have a bigger basis of support. And while I agree with them, I have to say that the timing of this decision is terrible."

"Oh," Jen said quietly, her hopes plummeting.

The colonel sighed before continuing. "Unfortunately this means that at the very least the basis for the new department needs to be in place before they'll send over new doctors. Now I'll have as many people as I can help you with the changes, but regretfully most of the weight is going to fall on the shoulders of you and your staff, simply because in the end you're the ones who know best." She smiled sympathetically at Jen. "I'm really sorry, Dr. Keller. Please, let me know what the rest of us can do to help you out."

Jen, partially in shock, nodded her head. "Okay. Um… to be honest I don't even know where to start." Running the medical department was challenge enough most days, and now she had to reorganize and expand it? She felt the panic beginning to set in.

Colonel Carter placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we already have some tentative plans made. If you'd like to meet me in the briefing room in two hours we can start going over everything."

Jen nodded again, not sure what else to do. "Okay, I'll be there."

The rest of the day passed by in a blur for Jen. By the time six o'clock in the evening rolled around her mind was overwhelmed with plans for the expanded department, as well as all the normal duties she had. The new medical department would definitely be an improvement over the old one, even just one glance at the plans had shown her that, but Colonel Carter had been right—the timing of this expansion sucked.

She was just on the verge of a stressful breakdown when Ronon entered into the infirmary. She felt an instant surge of regret as she realized that she wouldn't be able to make their scheduled lesson that night, nor was it likely that she would be able to until sometime next week or even the week after that.

* * *

The moment Ronon saw Jen from across the infirmary he knew something was wrong. His pace quickened automatically and within seconds he was standing beside her. She looked more haggard than he had ever seen her, and with the way the past few weeks had been going for her, that was saying something.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately.

She shook her head and opened her mouth to negate the fact, but he interrupted her. "Don't say nothing. I know it's something."

"I'm not going to be able to come tonight," she said, her voice heavy with regret.

Ronon let out a sigh of relief, thankful that was all this was. "It's okay, Jen," he said reassuringly. "There are always other days."

She nodded, but didn't seem any less worried. "I know, but … I don't know when… it might be weeks from now."

Ronon felt his chest tighten as he saw how upset she was over it. Acting on instinct he pulled her into a hug, one that she sank into easily. "It's okay," he repeated. He felt her nod against his chest as her arms came up to wrap around him tightly, almost clinging. He wondered what had happened today to bring this on.

After a few minutes she pulled away from him, looking slightly embarrassed. He smiled, letting her know it was okay. "Come eat supper with me," he said.

Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have all this…"

"You need to eat. You know that."

"I know, but there's just so much stuff to do…"

She was interrupted by one of the other doctors who had someone snuck up on them. If Ronon remembered correctly her name was Dr. Waterton. "Go," the older woman told Jen. "We've all seen how you've been working yourself into the ground, trying not to overload the rest of us. And as much as we appreciate it, you need a break too."

Jen hesitated.

"Go on," the other woman continued. "Dr. Melsen and I will stay late and wrap things up for the night." Then Dr. Waterton left, leaving Jen no room to argue.

Ronon gently reached for Jen's shoulders and steered her towards the exit. Once they were in the hallway he slung one arm around her shoulders, squeezing her against his side gently. "You gonna be okay?" He asked quietly.

She sighed heavily, but nodded. "I think so," though she didn't sound fully convinced.

After they loaded up their trays with food, Ronon led Jen out to one of the nearby balconies, figuring she might appreciate a chance to eat away from the crowded mess hall.

However, his worry only increased when she ate her entire dinner in silence, staring blankly out across the water.

Leaving his own food untouched, he reached beside him and placed his hand lightly over hers where it lay on the ground. She started slightly, but then turned to give him a smile, albeit an extremely weak one. "Sorry. I know I'm probably making you worried."

"A little," he admitted, pulling his hand back to his side.

"I just don't know how I'm supposed to do all this," she told him quietly, not quite looking him in the eye. "I get that we need to expand the medical department, but why can't it wait until after the new doctors arrive?"

Ronon stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" This was the first he'd heard of any expansion.

Jen sighed and launched into an explanation of the day's events, doing no small share of venting. He listened patiently, letting her release some of her frustration. When she finished, she seemed almost embarrassed. "Sorry," she said quietly.

"Don't be," he assured her. "Did it help?"

She took a second to think about it before nodding her head. "It did actually. Guess I just needed a break and a chance to rant."

He smiled. "Well, you have the rest of the night off too."

She shifted uncomfortably. "I should probably go back and help them…"

He shook his head firmly. "No, you said it yourself, you need a break. They can manage without you for one night."

Jen sighed, apparently giving into the fact. She stretched her legs out in front of her and lay down, looking up at the setting sun. Ronon couldn't help but stare a little longer than was necessary.

"You need to stop worrying about it," he said gently, breaking the silence.

She turned her gaze to look up at him, but didn't move. "It's kind of hard."

He nodded. "I know. So we'll talk about something else, to keep your mind off it."

She smiled up at him. "And what would that be?"

He shrugged as he moved his food tray out of the way, so he could lie down in a similar manner. "Whatever you want."

"Tell me about Sateda?" She asked quietly after a few seconds of silence.

He was always fascinated by how genuinely interested she was in his home planet. No one else he'd met really cared much past the basic details. It was nice, knowing that someone wanted to know about his past. But what was better was that he could now look back and talk about it without feeling the pain and regret he used to. The hurt of the tragedy was still there if he searched deep enough for it, it always would be, but it didn't consume him like it once did. Maybe like her, talking about it had helped.

Ronon started talking, telling her a story from when he'd been in training for the military. He along with a group of friends had played a spectacular prank on one of their commanding officers, amazingly without getting caught. The story led into another, and another, until he found his throat almost too dry to speak.

He paused and sat up to take a drink from his water bottle. Jen sat up as well, doing the same before stretching her arms over her head. "Did you leave anyone behind?" She asked quietly.

Ronon nearly choked on the water he was drinking. He wondered if Jen could tell that he had been purposefully skirting away from that topic while he talked, though the temptation to tell her had been there too. He wasn't sure if it was something he should talk to her about, but she had asked, and for some reason he wanted her to know.

"Melena," he said softly, looking away from her and across the ocean. "We were supposed to get married."

He felt Jen's hand come to rest lightly on his shoulder nearest her. She squeezed once, gently. "I'm sorry," her voice was soft and full of sincerity. It was enough to start the words flowing. Before he knew it he was telling her all about Melena: who she was, how they'd met, the plans they'd made, even about the stupid fights they'd use to have.

"You would have liked her," he said quietly in conclusion. The sun had set now and he was staring out across the dark water that rippled lightly with the breeze.

He could practically hear Jen's smile. "I'm sure I would have."

Turning to look at her, he smiled. "So, tell me about you."

She gave him a puzzled look. "You already know about me," she said simply. "I'm the girl from Chippewa Falls."

He shook his head. "No, you're more than that. Tell me your story."

"I don't—"

"Sure you do," he said, interrupting. "Everyone has a story."

"It's boring," she warned.

He shook his head. "I doubt it. Tell me."

Jen took a deep breath, pulling her knees up to her chest as she began talking. "There really isn't much to tell. I grew up in a small town, not much to do. I read a lot, kept myself out of trouble for the most part. My mom got me into horseback riding lessons when I was ten. I fell in love and even had my own horse for a while."

Ronon nodded. "What else?"

She looked at him oddly, skeptical that he actually wanted to hear this, but he did and told her so. She shrugged her shoulders and kept on talking, explaining to him what it was like to grow up on Earth, talked about her friends, what sports teams she was on. She swore that it was boring, but he found it more interesting than most of the stuff he'd told her.

When she began talking about her internship for medical school, he noticed that she tensed a bit, and that her voice became flat. It seemed almost like she wanted to rush over this portion of her life as quickly as possible.

"What happened?" He interjected quietly when she paused for a breath.

"What do you mean?" She responded, the words coming out of her mouth just a little too quickly.

He simply looked at her, knowing he didn't need to explain himself.

"How'd you know something happened?" She asked, obviously surprised.

He shrugged. "Can just tell."

She sighed and looked back out over the water. "There was this guy who worked at the hospital I was doing my internship at, another doctor." She paused to take a deep breath before continuing. "I thought he was _the one_."

Ronon felt a surge of sympathy as he heard her voice nearly crack with emotion.

"Turns out he wasn't. I mean I really liked him, _really_ liked him. He was perfect: smart, attractive, funny… but I should have known it was too good to be true when he asked me out. We only dated for a few weeks, but I was sure that we were destined to be together for the rest of our lives." She paused, exhaling sharply. "Turns out he was just dating me to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. I was absolutely head over heals in love with him, and he used me.

"It's also partly why I did so well in my internship though. After it was over, I couldn't let myself think about it, so I put everything I had into my work. Actually, it's probably in a round about way what brought me here. If I hadn't done as well as I did back then, I doubt I would have been picked for the Atlantis mission."

Ronon did the first thing he could think of and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a one-sided hug. "I'm sorry he hurt you." He was, more than anything. It explained a lot though: why she doubted herself so severely at times, why she had yet to acknowledge, or possibly even see this thing between them. And as much as it pained him to know that she'd been hurt like that, he was glad she'd told him. Maybe with time he'd be able to show her that that guy had been an idiot, and that she deserved someone a million times better.

"Thanks," she said quietly as she leaned against him a little bit.

He squeezed her shoulder. "But I'm glad it brought you here," he said honestly.

Tilting her head, she looked up at him, smiling. "Me too."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Ronon kept a watchful eye on Jen for the next ten days, or at least as much as he could given that she was holed up in the infirmary the majority of the time. On the outside she looked like she was holding up okay, but he wondered if she really was. There were times he caught glimpses of something beneath the surface that made him worry. Of course he could be imagining it, or simply confusing it with the exhaustion; he had no doubt that once this was over she would probably sleep for two days straight. However, he supposed that all things considered, she was doing alright.

Though in spite of his observation, he still snuck into the infirmary every chance he had to check up on her. He wondered if she was becoming fed up with seeing him yet, but each time he went she made the time to talk for a few minutes before excusing herself to get back to work. When he could he convinced her to eat meals with him, but it had only happened a few times. She was usually too busy to leave for more than ten or so minutes, and when that was the case he made sure to bring food to her. He knew her well now, and she had a tendency to focus fully on her work and forget everything else, including taking care of herself.

The new doctors had arrived the day before, and things were becoming even crazier. Ronon peered through one of the infirmary entrances and saw the group of them huddled around Jen as she explained some Atlantean medical scanning device. Every single one of the new doctors was bubbling with questions about it. The younger ones seemed to be utterly fascinated by it, whereas the older ones seemed more than a little skeptical. Jen took the time to answer all questions in turn, and Ronon was amazed at her patience. If it were him he probably would shot one of them already just for pestering so much.

Ronon turned and headed down the hallway, sighing as he did so. He'd been planning on asking Jen to come eat with him, but seeing as she was in the middle of some orientation lesson, he knew it wouldn't happen. He supposed he'd just have to come back in a couple of hours and try again, but he had no idea what he would do in the mean time. In fact, he had no idea what he'd done to keep busy before Jen and him had started spending time together. He had found himself increasingly bored these last few days, especially with their lack of lessons.

Itching with restlessness, Ronon broke into a moderate paced jog. He needed to relax, and one thing that always helped was running. He would do two, maybe three laps of his route, the same one he'd run with Jen. It should be enough to restore some calm. And after, if Jen still wasn't finished, he'd go and see Sheppard. He had been talking about lending Ronon some movies to watch on the laptop John had given him. It wasn't necessarily Ronon's ideal way of spending the evening, but it would be better than sitting around doing nothing.

* * *

Jen let out an inward sigh of frustration as she answered what seemed like the millionth question of the day, and who knew, maybe she had passed the one million mark. The new group of doctors were exceptionally bright and inquisitive, great traits, but it made orientation a huge pain in the ass for her. Briefly glancing up at the clock on the wall she saw that they'd been at this for six hours straight, minus the two twenty minute rest breaks she'd issued. For them it probably wasn't too bad. All they had to do was stand around listening, and of course ask questions non-stop. She on the other hand had been on her feet since nearly five o'clock this morning, a full four hours before the group of new doctors had arrived in the infirmary for the day.

The implementation of the medical department expansion, as well as the arrival and required training of the new staff were taking a heavy toll on her. There had been several times in the past week when it had taken every ounce of her effort to maintain her composure and not break down into a fit of tears. She wanted to, more than anything, but she wasn't the only person being affected by this. Her colleagues were under just as much pressure as she was, and she refused to let them see her fall apart, especially since she was supposed to be setting the example, not the other way around. And now with the new doctors here, well, she'd just say that breaking down in front of them wasn't going to give them the best impression of their new boss.

She thought she'd done pretty well at hiding things, even from Ronon. Whenever he came in to check on her, which was quite often, she made sure to appear especially collected. She felt bad enough from the previous time she'd started stressing out and he'd had to save her. The last thing she wanted was for him to have to put up with that again. Not only was it embarrassing, but she also hated coming across as such a weak person.

Jen concluded what she was telling the group and walked across the infirmary, ready to introduce them to yet another piece of Atlantean technology they used frequently. She had barely started talking when a page came in over the radio.

"_Medical team to the Gate Room immediately!" _

The response to those words had been drilled into her over and over again. She stopped what she was saying mid sentence and ran toward the supply area while shouting out orders at some of her 'old' staff. In thirty seconds, probably less, a group of three doctors plus herself were sprinting for the nearest transport chamber that would get them to the Gate Room, leaving everyone else behind without a second thought. 

When they made it there they saw one member of the expedition lying on the floor in front of the gate, unconscious and bleeding heavily. Major Lorne was kneeling over the man, doing his best to stem the blood loss with what he had. Colonel Carter was hovering nearby, trying to question Lorne at the same time.

"What happened?" Jen demanded as she dropped to her knees beside Lorne and… Lieutenant Roltan, if she remembered correctly.

"We were ambushed," Lorne said in a shaky voice as he moved his hands off the stomach wound, so that Dr. Melsen could take over. "They had some weird kind of guns. Never seen anything like it. He was only shot once, but …" He didn't need to finish the sentence, Jen knew. It looked as if this man had been put in front of a firing squad, not a single gunman.

"Let's lift him up," she said to Lorne, indicating one of the gurneys they'd brought with them.

Lorne took the lieutenant's feet and she took his shoulders. With some effort they transferred him onto the stretcher while Dr. Melsen maintained the pressure on the wound.

Bumping the button on her radio, Jen spoke. "Dr. Waterton, I need the OR prepped and ready stat."

"Is he going to be alright?" Lorne asked worriedly as they began to move as fast as they could safely towards the infirmary.

Jen ignored him and hurried off with the rest of the medical team, pulling out a syringe filled with sedative from a med kit as she went. She gave Lieutenant Roltan a dose while her mind was already ahead of itself, planning the upcoming surgery.

When they made it back to the infirmary they were greeted by a crowd of people, one that Jen had completely forgotten about. "Move," she yelled at the new staff, having no patience left to deal with them. Some complied, but many jumped forward, eagerly trying to help. "Get the hell out of my way!" She screamed, letting her anger get the better of her.

It seemed to do the trick, as everyone, even her old co-workers fell silent and moved to the side to let them pass. If she wasn't so worried about this man's life, she would have been disgusted with herself, but she had no time to think about it, only act. The lieutenant was losing blood at an alarming rate, one she knew he couldn't keep up for much longer. She checked his dog tag for his blood type and then ordered one of the nearby nurses to get three units of blood and have more on standby. Letting the other doctors get him into the OR and prepped for surgery, she rushed off to scrub in, knowing that the clock was ticking.

The surgery was one of the hardest she'd ever done. Every time she thought she had managed to stop the internal bleeding, it would start again. And the damage the bullet had done… she'd never seen anything like it. The amount of complicated repair work needed astounded her. In the five hours it took to complete the surgery the lieutenant had flat lined three times, twice they'd barely been able to get his heart beating again.

By the time she finished the last stitch she was well past her normal breaking point. The stress of the past few weeks combined with lack of sleep and no free time had put her damn close. Being placed in a tense high-stress situation, where she was the only thing standing between a man and his death had pushed her past.

"We're done," she told the other doctors in the OR, her voice flat and barely audible. _Keep it together for just a few more seconds, Jen_.

She saw how they were looking at her, with so much hesitation, but she ignored it. Without further thought she stripped off her gloves, mask and gown, throwing them into the nearest medical waste bin. Moving quickly, she left the OR, washed her hands, and headed back into the main part of the infirmary, towards the exit.

The group of doctors, old and new had been keeping themselves busy, but stopped when she entered the room. The wave of self-hatred hit her hard when she stared at their faces, half shocked and half anxious. But she ignored it, and them, speaking only to one of the most senior staff members. "Dr. Waterton, I need you to take charge of things for a while."

The older woman nodded. "Of course. Are you—?"

"I'll be back in a few minutes. I just need some fresh air," she lied. "And you can dismiss the orientation group. We'll continue in the morning."

Dr. Waterton nodded and Jen headed for the exit. She had to force herself not to run out of there, instead only quickening her pace slightly. However, once she was in the hallway she couldn't hold back anymore and broke into a sprint, heading for the nearest balcony. Tears burned in the back of her eyes and she was unable to keep them in.

When she broke through the door onto the balcony, she gulped in deep breaths of the night air as all her control unraveled. Tears obscured her vision so badly she could barely see, but somehow she found her way to the far corner of the railing, hidden in the shadows, and leaned against it as sobs wracked her body. She rested her head against her forearms on top of the railing and kept on crying. She could feel her entire body shaking, and she could barely breathe, but she couldn't seem to stop. All her body wanted to do was cry and she was completely powerless to stop it.

* * *

Ronon had been running when he heard the call go out over the wireless system for a medical team. Whoever had made the call had sounded extremely worried, meaning only one thing: it was bad. How bad he didn't know, but bad enough. It had taken a lot of effort not to simply turn around and run back to the infirmary, but he knew that his presence was unnecessary, and if anything would hinder things. He'd finished his lap of the route before giving in and heading back there.

Poking his head through the door, he'd seen several people working, but he'd also caught sight of Major Lorne and two marines crowded near the door to the operating room, looking nervous. Dr. Waterton had seen him and simply said, "She's in there."

He had nodded and left, deciding to check back every so often until Jen was out of surgery. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to be there. At the very least she would need a break after this, and he would make sure she took one.

He was on his way back to the infirmary for the twelfth time that evening, almost there, when he heard a noise coming from outside on one of the balconies. Peering out the glass door he couldn't see anything, but then half of it was hidden in shadow. Tentatively he stepped outside when the noise didn't cease. The door closed behind him and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light. Looking around he saw there was a lone figure on the far side of the balcony, leaning over the railing. As he began walking towards the person, he realized it was Jen, and that she was crying.

Concern hit him hard and he closed the distance between them quickly. "Jen," he said quietly, placing one hand on her shaking shoulder.

She jumped, standing upright and nearly bumping into him as she did so. He instantly noticed that her face was wet with tears, but that there were also dried tears on her cheeks, making him wonder how long she'd been out here. It took her a second to register who it was.

"Ronon," she managed to force out between heaving breaths.

Sick with worry he had to ask, "What's wrong?"

She tried to answer, but all that came out were sobs.

He stepped closer, raising one hand to tenderly cup her cheek. "Jen?"

The next thing he knew she had flung herself at him. His arms automatically wrapped around her, holding her close while her hands clutched at the back of his shirt desperately. She buried her face in against his chest and words suddenly began spilling out between sobs.

"Such a failure…Should just quit…"

Ronon felt tears building in his own eyes, and he held her even closer. "You're not a failure," he stated, while trying to keep his voice soft.

"Yes. I am."

"No."

"Yes…You don't know…what happened."

"Tell me," he prompted softly, knowing that if she didn't he wouldn't know how to make it better for her.

And she did, speaking in fragmented sentences, punctuated by heaving breaths, all the while the tears still flowing. She told him about how she'd been barely able to hold herself together these past few days, how close she'd come to breaking down before, and lastly about the past few hours. She explained about Lieutenant Roltan, and how she'd lost her temper with the rest of the doctors.

"I'm a…horrible person," she concluded.

Ronon pressed his lips lightly against her forehead. "No. You're not." She didn't respond, but clung a little tighter to him. He raised one hand and ran it over the back of her head soothingly. "Everyone has limits," he said softly, whispering into her hair. "They're not going to hold it against you."

"They should."

He shook his head. "No. Maybe it's better this way. I know they think you have an unending supply of patience, but they need to know you're human like the rest of us."

Jen didn't reply, and Ronon kept on stroking her hair while the rest of her tears finally died away. "You're an amazing woman, Jen. Don't ever forget that."

* * *

Jen felt herself blush at Ronon's words and was thankful he couldn't see her face. His hand was moving lightly through her hair, and he was holding her closely. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been held like this, or at all, and she sank into the comfort of the embrace even more. Ronon seemed content to stay as he was, and she was more than happy to let him.

She had no idea how long they stood there, but it had to be several minutes at least. She didn't want to move, but knew that she had to face the music so to speak. Slowly, reluctantly, she pulled away from Ronon. Keeping her eyes on the ground she spoke softly. "I should get back."

Ronon tilted her head up with one hand, and she was touched by the concern she saw in his eyes. She gave him a shaky smile and the worry there lessened slightly, but it wasn't gone.

"I'll be okay," she added quietly, and as she said the words she knew it was true. Although she hated breaking down like she just had, it was the relief she'd needed. It also certainly hadn't hurt that she'd had someone there to comfort her, though she wished Ronon hadn't had to witness all of her insecurities and doubts coming to the surface, like they always did at times like these.

"You sure?" He asked her softly.

She nodded. "Yeah. I really should get back."

He reached up, using his thumb to wipe away the few remaining tears from under her eyes. "Okay."

Jen opened her mouth to thank him, for everything, when she saw a lone figure walk past the door. It was Dr. Waterton, no doubt looking for her. "Sorry," Jen said quickly, moving toward the door. "I gotta go."

Ronon nodded, and as she reached the door, she heard him call out to her. "Jen. Don't forget what I said."

She blushed again and nodded before heading in.

After making it back to the infirmary, Jen apologized for her outburst. Her co-workers assured her that an apology wasn't necessary, but she felt better having said it. Several of the senior staff offered to do the second, and last day of orientation in her place, but she turned them down, declaring she had it covered. It was tempting, but she knew that it was her job, and she owed it to the new personnel to finish it herself.

Thankfully most of the infirmary was already 'shut down' for the night, and it only took her and the remaining doctors fifteen or so minutes to do the rest. As she was working Jen couldn't help but think about what had happened on the balcony with Ronon. The scene replayed itself over and over in her head, and she felt horrible about how she'd completely lost control like that, but also thankful that Ronon had been there to comfort her. Once she was done for the night she would go and apologize to him as well, and also thank him.

* * *

Ronon paced his room restlessly. He wished there was something he could do to help Jen out, anything. Unfortunately the more he thought about it, the more he knew he'd done all he could for the time being. It was somewhat of a relief knowing that soon this chaos with the medical department would be over, but it didn't completely stop him from feeling like he needed to do _something_.

Frustrated and agitated, Ronon picked up the stack of DVDs that John had given him a few minutes earlier and looked through them, knowing he was too on edge to sleep. He had just decided on one about some prison train when the door chime sounded. He dropped the stash of movies on his bed and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Jen standing there.

"Hey," she said shyly.

"Hi," he replied, quickly taking note of her appearance. She had just showered, and was obviously done for the night. Her eyes had dark marks underneath them from lack of sleep, and she looked exhausted, but most, if not all of the turmoil from earlier was gone. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "Everything okay?"

She smiled weakly. "Yeah." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I just wanted to stop by and say sorry, for earlier."

"You don't have to—"

"I know, but still. And I also wanted to say thank you." She stared at him intently. "Really, Ronon. Thank you."

"Anytime," he replied honestly. He stared back, unable to help himself. Once again he felt himself being drawn in, just like that first night in the gym.

Suddenly she looked away, breaking his gaze and the moment. "I should probably go," she said as she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"You could stay if you want." Ronon coughed. "I mean, I, uh… I was going to watch a movie that Sheppard gave me. If you wanted …"

She smiled up at him. "That sounds good."

Ronon stepped to the side and let her enter his room, finding himself distinctly conscious of the slight mess. "Sorry, it's not that clean…"

Jen laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it. Mine room's about ten times worse right now."

Relaxing Ronon walked over to the small table and grabbed the laptop, unplugging it before turning it on.

"So what are we watching?" Jen asked as she sat down on his bed, leaning her back against the headboard.

Ronon passed her the movie before sitting down next to her and placing the computer in the middle of the bed.

"3:10 To Yuma," she read aloud.

"Yeah, but if you want to watch something else…" He pointed at the stack of movies on the end of the bed.

She was reading the back cover of the case, but shook her head. "No, this looks fine. Actually, someone told me it was really good." She opened the case and passed him the disc.

They settled in to watch, both sitting up with legs stretched out in front of them. They were only about ten minutes into the movie when Jen let out a huge yawn. "Sorry," she whispered.

Ronon glanced sideways at her. Her eyes were drooping shut and every once in a while her head would nod. "You're tired," he stated simply.

She yawned again. "Yeah."

Ronon reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed and pulled it up, passing it to her. "Here."

She smiled, but shook her head. "If you give me that I'm going to fall asleep."

He spread the blanket over her. "It's okay."

She gave him a peculiar look, before giving in and wrapping the blanket fully around herself, so that it was tucked up underneath her chin. She pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Ronon smiled and felt a surge of warmth pass through his body. Gently he moved his one arm so that it was wrapped around her shoulders. She responded by leaning more fully against his side, snuggling up next to him. In less than five minutes she was asleep.

* * *

When Jen woke up the next morning she was warm and comfortable. Pulling the blanket over her head, she buried her face in the pillow. It took her a few seconds to realize that it didn't smell like her pillow—a mixture of her shampoo and perfume—it smelt masculine. Her head whipped up and her eyes flew open. She wasn't in her room. There was the barest hint of sun coming in through the window, but her side of the city didn't get direct sunlight until just after noon. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she surveyed the room. The moment her eyes fell on the chair near the window, she relaxed.

Ronon was stretched out in it, dead to the world. If she listened carefully she could hear his deep peaceful breaths of sleep.

She sat up slowly, trying to remember the night before. It didn't take long for things to come back. Sighing, she rubbed her sleepy eyes with the palms of her hands. She probably shouldn't have stayed to watch the movie, but the offer had been too tempting. Actually, she wasn't even sure she'd made it much past the opening credits. Ronon had given her the blanket and after that… she didn't remember anything.

Jen couldn't help but smile as she looked at his sleeping form. The laptop and DVDs were stacked on the table, meaning he must have moved them. He must have also managed to tuck her in, unless of course he woke her up and got her to move, and she just didn't remember it.

Not many people would believe it, but under the rough and gruff warrior exterior there was a kind and caring man, one that she'd been lucky enough to get to know. He was the best friend a girl could ask for. Jen knew of no one else who would put up with all the stuff he had, and then still take care of her at the end of the day. It was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her, and thinking about it was almost enough to bring tears to her eyes.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her watch beeped once, timing the hour mark. Glancing at it, she saw it was five. Biting back a groan she threw off the warm covers and made her way to the door. She needed to be in the infirmary in less than an hour and she still had to change and eat breakfast.

She moved quietly, so as not to wake Ronon. After slipping on her shoes she waved her hand over the sensor, opening the door. When she stepped out into the hallway, she nearly ran into Teyla.

"Jen," the other woman said, sounding more than a little surprised.

The door swooshed shut behind her, and Jen realized what Teyla must think. She rushed to clarify. "It's not what it looks like."

Teyla raised one eyebrow in question. She tilted her head down the hallway. "I'm heading for breakfast, would you care to join me?"

Jen followed her down the hall. When Teyla didn't say anything in response to her previous comment, she repeated it. "It's really not what it looks like. We were watching a movie last night, and I fell asleep, that's all. We never…"

Teyla paused and looked Jen up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. "Would it be so bad if it were?"

Jen's face scrunched slightly in confusion. "Huh?"

Teyla smiled. "If it was what it looked like. Would that be so bad?"

Jen felt her face warm considerably. "Well, um… I mean… Ronon's a great guy, Teyla, but he would never be interested in someone like me."

"In someone who is warm, caring, and who he loves spending time with?"

Jen's face became even hotter. "We're just friends."

Teyla was still smiling. "For now, yes."

"For always. Ronon's so… and I'm just…" She struggled for the right words, but couldn't find them.

Teyla placed a hand on her shoulder. "All I know is that I never seen Ronon happier than I have in these past few weeks. I know that it is because of you. And although he has not said anything to me, I would be very surprised if he did not feel something for you beyond friendship." Teyla squeezed Jen's shoulder lightly before letting her hand fall back down to her side. "Sometimes love can spring up when you least expect it. You need only be ready to embrace it."

TBC

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter didn't get posted sooner. I was aiming to update yesterday, but things kind of got away from me. Lol. I'm not sure when chapter 6 will be up. Hopefully it won't be long, but real life kind of exploded on me today, so there could be a delay. I apoloize in advance it that turns out to be the case. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Jen couldn't help but grin like an idiot as she pulled on the most comfortable pair of pajamas she owned and flopped down onto her bed. It wasn't exactly a luxury quality mattress, but at the moment it felt like heaven. She had finished orientation for the new doctors just under two hours ago. Immediately afterward she'd briefed Colonel Carter on their progress. Then, much to Jen's surprise, Sam had ordered her to take the rest of the evening and the next two full days off. She had tried to protest, but the colonel had been adamant, telling her she deserved it more than anyone in the city at the moment.

The praise had warmed her, making her happier than she'd been in … who knew how long. But what really topped it off was the knowledge that she could sleep for as long as she wanted to, and no one would complain. She didn't even care that it was barely nine o'clock at night; she was going to bed now. After weeks of being awake until at least one in the morning, it was going to be one hell of a nice change.

Jen tugged the covers over herself and rolled onto her stomach, sliding one arm beneath the pillow and resting her head comfortably atop it. Letting out a sigh of contentment, she snuggled into the covers just a little more. Although she was exhausted, she did not find herself falling to sleep right away. It didn't really surprise her, seeing as the past few weeks had had her so on edge; it was difficult to truly believe they were over.

Content to lie there and wait for sleep to take her, she let her mind wander. The first thought that sprung to mind was that she would finally be able to continue her lessons with Ronon. She couldn't help but smile to herself—she had missed them terribly. The more time she spent with Ronon, the more she enjoyed hanging out with him.

_"Sometimes love can spring up when you least expect it. You need only be ready to embrace it."_

Even alone, she blushed as Teyla's words echoed in her mind. Jen liked the Athosian very much, but surely in this case she was simply out of her mind. Ronon was, well, Ronon, and she was her. In Jen's mind that about summed it up. He would never feel anything for her beyond friendship, no matter how she might feel in return.

* * *

When Jen woke the first time, it was just after ten the next morning. She'd done a double take when looking at the clock, amazed that she'd managed to sleep for so long. And what was more, she still felt dead tired. The temptation to remain in bed for even longer was there in spades, but what was more overwhelming was the call of nature. Cursing the last glass of water she'd drank, Jen rose slowly and headed for the washroom in her room.

As she was washing her hands, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't help but grimace at the ragged appearance of the person looking back at her. There were huge bags under her eyes, her face had imprints from the creases of the pillow and her hair looked like a rat's nest. She sighed as she walked back into the main part of her quarters to grab her towel. Sleep was tempting, but so was the thought of feeling truly clean.

After showering she felt somewhat human again, and decided that she should probably use at least some of her day catching up on things. Too lazy to leave her room, Jen found some old Power Bars she had stashed in a bag, and ate them while she worked. Everything that needed to be done was for herself, not for the mission.

First off she cleaned. Tidying was something she hated, but given that her room looked like her suitcase had thrown up all over it, she figured it was necessary. Only after she'd finished, was she able to find her laptop, which was good because she needed to place a personal order to Earth which was due at the end of the week. With every trip the Daedalus made, each person from the Atlantis mission was allowed to request so many things, and she was long overdue. Her list consisted mostly of 'luxury' items like more shampoo, perfume, DVDs and CDs, but it also included necessities such as new socks and hair elastics. It would be weeks until she actually saw any of it, but knowing it would arrive period put her in an even better mood.

As she was sending the list to the required Daedalus crewman via the Atlantis internet system, she realized she hadn't written to her dad in weeks. Instantly feeling guilty, she settled herself more comfortably at her desk and began to type. She couldn't tell him any specific details about the mission of course, but yet she still found herself filling pages and pages of a word document. By the time she was finished, and had gone over it with a fine toothed comb, making sure she hadn't let anything slip, she was fully exhausted again.

It was only mid-afternoon, but she crawled back into bed without hesitation. She had no idea when she'd have the opportunity for another nap, so she wasn't going to let it pass her by. Before she knew it, sleep had embraced her.

* * *

Upon waking the second time, Jen rolled over and looked at the bedside clock. She read the time, but it took a few seconds for it to register in her head. _Four?_ Turning her head to stare at the window she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of afternoon sun, until she realized it must be four in the morning. Amazed that she'd managed to sleep more than twelve hours yet again, she pushed herself upright in bed.

When her stomach growled fiercely, she really wasn't surprised. Two Power Bars were hardly enough to keep her full for long, and she suspected that if she hadn't been so tired she would have woken up much earlier simply from the persistence of her appetite. It was early, but not enough so that the mess hall would be empty. There may not be any personnel eating there yet, but she was certain at least one or two of the cooks would be around. So even if they'd yet to put anything out, she was sure she could get something from them.

For once she didn't find it that difficult to leave the warm confines of the covers. It might have something to do with the fact that she was practically starving, or it may be that she had simply slept for so long that her body needed to do something else. Either way, it wasn't more than a minute before she'd run herself another shower and was stepping under the water stream.

Too hungry to dawdle, she was finished and changed in less than ten minutes. This time when she looked in the mirror she was pleased to see someone at least vaguely human looking back at her. There were still slight bags under her eyes, but she looked better (and felt better) than she had in weeks. Smiling to herself, she threw her hair up into a messy bun, grabbed an old hoodie and pulled it on before cramming her feet into a well used pair of shoes and heading to the mess hall.

When she arrived she saw that there was only one table with an occupant, and she was more than pleased to notice that person was Ronon. He was sitting in the far corner, staring absentmindedly in the direction of the door. It took her a second to catch his eye, but when she did she gave him a huge smile and waved. He seemed surprised to see her, but smiled back. She indicated that she was going to grab some food from the kitchen and he nodded.

Five or so minutes later she made her way over to his table, carrying a tray laden with food. It was probably much more than she was going to eat, but she was hungry and the cooks had kept adding stuff to her plate.

"Hey," she said pleasantly to Ronon as she pulled up the chair across from him and sat down.

"Hey," he replied, smiling lightly at her. "Wasn't expecting to see you this morning."

Jen raised her eyebrow in question as she began peeling the wrapper of her still warm muffin. "Oh?"

"I heard Carter gave you two days off. Figured you'd still be sleeping."

She chuckled quietly. "I did sleep; a lot actually. But a person can only rest for so long. Plus, I woke up and I was starving."

"I can tell," Ronon said good-naturedly, eyeing her plate of food.

She stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite of her muffin. After swallowing, she said, "So, what do you have planned for today?"

Ronon made a face that she couldn't help but laugh at. "Negotiations."

She smiled sympathetically. "It's not the same people as before, is it?"

He nodded, and his fingers began to drum along the side of his coffee mug. "Yeah, the boring ones again."

"Ugh, I'm sorry."

Ronon shrugged. "Could be worse I guess."

"Are you going to need a break when you get back?" She found herself asking.

Ronon looked half confused and half amused. "What do you have in mind?"

She shifted somewhat uncomfortably in her seat. "I just thought, you know, that if you did…"

He leaned back in his chair, waiting patiently for her to spit the rest of the words out.

"I thought maybe we could train some more?" She finished lamely.

Ronon smiled. "I'd like that," he said as he stared at her intently.

Jen felt herself on the verge of blushing, but forced herself to stay calm. "Great."

"What time?"

Jen shrugged. "Whatever time you want," she said earnestly before taking another bite of her muffin.

"Seven?" Ronon asked. "We should be back by then."

Jen smiled. "Sounds good."

"So," Ronon said after a few seconds. "What are you doing today?"

"Not much," she replied honestly. "I'll probably take another nap, maybe read a book." She grinned. "Pretty much whatever I want, I suppose. I did most of the stuff I had to do: cleaned my quarters, emailed in my personal request for the next Daedalus shipment, and wrote to my dad."

"Yeah?" Ronon questioned, obviously wanting her to elaborate.

She told him about what she'd wrote to her dad, mostly little stories of amusing things that had happened around the medical department; colleagues who had stuck their foot in their mouth, retelling funny incidents, that sort of thing.

"Must be hard," Ronon commented when she was finished. "Not being able to tell him."

Jen nodded before taking a sip of her coffee. "It is, a little. But I think it'd be worse if he actually knew what we were up against out here. My dad tends to worry, and life sucking aliens in another galaxy… I think that might be too much for him to handle."

They spent the next hour or so talking, about pretty much anything and everything that came to mind. After Ronon finished telling her about McKay's latest misadventure, she pushed the tray of food away from herself. She had probably eaten too much, but it had been damn good.

"Full?" Ronon questioned.

Jen nodded as she leaned back in her chair. "Definitely. If you want any of it…" she waved her hand at the remaining food, "…go ahead."

Ronon grinned and reached for a grape, popping it into his mouth quickly. She couldn't help but laugh; sometimes he just reminded her of a big kid. It was cute really.

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" He asked suddenly.

"Nothing," she answered. "Unless you want to train." She couldn't keep the hint of hope from entering into her voice.

Ronon smiled. "I would, but it's game night. You should come."

"I don't know…"

He raised one eyebrow. "But you said it was fun last time."

She nodded. "It was fun. I just…"

"You're not intruding," he added, reading her mind.

Jen smiled hesitantly. "I…well, I guess I could."

"Good, it's settled."

Jen shook her head, amused. "Do you always get your way?" She quipped.

Ronon grinned broadly. "Yeah."

Jen reached for one of the grapes and tossed it at Ronon, catching him off guard and hitting him right in the middle of his forehead. The accompanying thwack noise was what made her laugh though.

Ronon retaliated by grabbing a grape of his own and throwing it her way. She'd mostly been expecting it, so she managed to catch the projectile with one hand and toss it into her mouth, smirking at him.

She grabbed another and tossed it at him, but this time he was ready and managed to catch it directly in his mouth. "Impressive," she stated, still smiling.

Their game continued until most of the bowl was empty, and they were both laughing near the point of hysteria. She knew that the few other expedition members who had entered into the mess were more than likely watching them, but she didn't care. It was fun.

The next grape Ronon threw at her hit her directly between the eyes (probably exactly where he'd been aiming) and bounced onto the table. It was rolling for the edge, and Jen reached for it, but before her hand could close around it, it had already been snatched up. Looking up she saw Colonel Sheppard holding the piece of fruit and looking down at them.

"Good morning children," he said lightly, obviously amused by their antics.

"Morning," Jen replied, sitting upright in her seat, slightly embarrassed to be found acting like a five year old.

"Hey," Ronon added from his side of the table, still grinning broadly.

"New game I don't know about?" John inquired as he took a seat beside Jen, shooting Ronon an odd look at the same time.

Before Jen could even begin to ponder what it might mean, she caught sight of Teyla, who she hadn't seen until just that moment. The Athosian took the remaining empty seat at the table and gave Jen a look that she couldn't misinterpret. She was silently reminding Jen of their previous conversation, and of her words.

Once again Jen heard them echo inside her head. Unable to help herself, she glanced at Ronon. He was listening to something Sheppard was saying. She couldn't help but notice that he did look happy, just as Teyla had said. It didn't mean it was because of her though. Did it?

Jen pulled her gaze away from Ronon and gulped down what was left of her coffee, ignoring its now cool temperature. It didn't make sense that Ronon would like her, not like that. She was so plain, and he was exotic, and … they just didn't mix. _But what about how you guys are friends?_ A small voice inside her head asked. They meshed very well in friendship, it was true. But that didn't automatically mean he felt anything for her past that.

If she were completely honest with herself she could admit that she felt an attraction towards Ronon, both physically and emotionally, something that could very easily turn into something more, but only if her feelings were reciprocated, which she was sure they were not. _Are you sure?_ The voice prompted.

She thought she was, at least mostly. But then she couldn't help but think back on the past few weeks. They had spent a lot of time together, more often than not with him being the one seeking her out. She had told him things very few people knew about her, he'd been there to comfort her during her breakdown and he'd even made sure she was okay afterward. And that wasn't even mentioning how goofy they'd been acting just now, practically flirting. Jen felt a sudden wave of nervousness pass over her as reality started to sink in. Could he actually like her that way?

It didn't make sense, but yet all the signs pointed to the same conclusion. Maybe Teyla had been right…

"Jennifer," Teyla said softly, interrupting her thoughts. "Is everything all right?"

She glanced up to see the three of them staring at her. Immediately she noticed how Ronon's face was lined with concern. "You okay, Jen?" He asked.

Forcing a smile, she nodded. "Yeah, guess I'm just more tired than I thought. I'm going head back to my room." She stood up and grabbed her tray. "I'll see you guys later."

* * *

Jen paced her room, trying to think of ways to combat her intense case of nerves. She was supposed to meet Ronon in the gym in less than twenty minutes, and she wasn't sure she could.

After leaving the mess hall that morning she'd spent hours trying to sort things out in her head, and by the end she realized that by some bizarre chance, Ronon might actually like her, like that. The thought was enough to make her head spin, but she couldn't deny the thrill of excitement it gave her. Though that thrill was closely followed by fear. Fear that she was misreading things, that he didn't like her. Fear that even if he did, she'd manage to screw everything up before it started.

Taking a series of deep breaths, Jen forced herself to regain some semblance of calm. She would just have to take things step by step; it was the only logical way to approach the situation. Worrying about what may or may not happen in the future wasn't going to do anyone any good. She just hoped that knowledge would be enough to get her through the next few hours.

She walked into the washroom and splashed some cold water on her face before grabbing her water bottle and heading out the door.

When Jen arrived at the gym she found Ronon waiting for her. He obviously hadn't been expecting her so early and grinned sheepishly as she entered. "We got back ahead of time," he explained.

She nodded and smiled back, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. "How was it?" She asked as she set her water bottle off to the side on one of the benches.

Ronon walked towards her as he spoke. "Not bad, still boring though." He paused when he was standing only a foot or so away from her. "Is everything all right?"

Jen was taken aback by the question, for a second wondering if he could read her mind or something. "Everything's fine," she answered quickly.

"You just left kind of quickly this morning."

Jen felt a surge of embarrassment, and hoped it wasn't showing on her face. "Right. I just got tired all of a sudden."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah." Tilting her head towards the door she asked, "Run?"

Ronon grinned. "Of course."

When they arrived back Jen was feeling a little less tense in regards to the whole 'Ronon-might-like-me' possibility. She wondered how it was possible that spending a half hour running with him could put her so at ease.

"So, what're we doing today?" She asked, unwilling to let her mind get stuck on its previous thought.

He shrugged, but headed towards the mats at the center of the room. "It's been a while, so I was thinking we should maybe just review."

Jen smiled as she followed him to the middle of the mat. "Sounds like a plan to me. But, Ronon?"

"Yeah?"

"Go easy on me," she said jokingly.

He responded with a mischievous grin. "Maybe."

She laughed and got into the ready position, waiting for him to 'attack' her.

His first two assaults on her were simple straightforward ones; she fended them off with moves she had learnt during her first lesson.

"Good," Ronon said as he hopped back up onto his feet. "Now let's see if you remember the more complicated stuff."

She held her own for only a few minutes, before a well placed foot between her ankles caught her off guard, making her trip and land flat on her ass. Groaning, she pushed herself up off the mat. "Guess not, huh?"

"Ready position," he said in response.

Her body responded automatically: her knees bending and feet spreading to shoulder width.

Ronon took his place in front of her. "I'm going to attack you in slow motion, so you can see what you did wrong."

She nodded, and Ronon advanced. Within seconds she realized what she'd done to let him get past her guard the last time. Unfortunately she couldn't remember the right moves to prevent him from tripping her either.

Ronon stepped behind her, positioning her arms, legs and torso in the correct defensive position. Normally when he did things like this, it took him only a few moments, but today it seemed like his hands were lingering longer than they had to. The realization caused a flow of warmth through her body, and suddenly she was all too aware of Ronon's close proximity.

She tried to focus on his words as he guided her through the right movements, still standing pressed against her back, but she was having the hardest time concentrating.

"You okay?" He asked quietly in her ear, causing her to jump slightly.

"Fine," she replied, probably just a little too quickly. She thought she might have seen him smirk from the corner of her eye, but she couldn't be sure. She was too busy trying not to blush, and she wasn't even sure she was succeeding.

The rest of the lesson carried on in much the same way: her forgetting a move and Ronon correcting her. Which of course meant him standing close to her, fixing her body positioning and leading her through the required actions. Each time he stepped behind her, her stomach clenched in nervousness and she couldn't keep her heart from racing inside her chest. On top of that the palms of her hands were sweating, the room felt much too warm and she couldn't focus on anything other than how near Ronon was to her, and the feel of his hands against her skin.

After an hour and a half had passed, she was flustered well past the point of distraction. Thankfully Ronon seemed to be okay with her progress, or else he was taking pity on her, and ended the session.

"That's enough for tonight," he said, the words accompanied by a smile. He walked towards the nearby bench and grabbed his water bottle shooting a stream into his mouth. "You did good," he added.

Jen walked over to the other bench to grab her bottle, keeping her face turned to hide the blush on her cheeks. "Well, not really," she said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Ronon asked as he walked towards her.

Jen took a drink from her bottle before replying. "I kept screwing up, forgetting things." When she risked a quick glance at Ronon from the corner of her eye she saw that he was grinning. "It's not funny," she added indignantly.

"I'm not laughing," he replied in a serious tone. "I just don't think you realize how complex it is."

"What is?"

"The stuff I've been teaching you. Some of those moves I used on you, you won't see unless you're fighting a pro, and in that case you're probably in a lot more trouble than self-defense can get you out of."

"Oh," she replied quietly. "Guess I didn't think about it like that…"

He smiled again, the intensity of it nearly enough to bring the blush back up onto her face. "Trust me, you did good."

Jen smiled back. "Thanks." When he kept staring at her, she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, fiddling with the cap on her water bottle as she did so. "Well, I should probably go," she said slowly, tilting her head toward the door. "It's back to work tomorrow."

Ronon nodded. "Okay."

"See you later," she added as she headed for the door.

"Tomorrow," Ronon said, and she stopped, turning to look at him. "Game night," he reminded her.

She nodded quickly, before turning back around and heading for the safety of the hallway. Except it wasn't safe, Ronon was still in her thoughts, invading them. And game night?

Jen groaned. If she had barely survived a training session with him she had no idea how she would manage an entire game night. This newfound revelation that he might like her, and that she did like him, was proving much more difficult to deal with than she ever would have imagined. She just hoped they wouldn't be playing Twister again…

TBC

**A/N:** I apologize profusely for the delay in this chapter. Like I said, real life kind of exploded on me. Thankfully it's not in a bad way, but I've still been super busy with other things. I'll do everything I can to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but unfortunately I can't make any promises as to exactly when. Hopefully people understand. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Jen was standing in the Gate Room, adjusting the rather large pack on her back when she heard a voice from behind her. "Ready to go, Doc?"

She turned to look at Major Lorne. "Ready when you are," she stated.

He smiled and nodded, before calling up to the technician. "Dial the Gate!"

Jen did another mental tally of all the supplies she had while the Gate locked in the address. "You said it's just a simple case of well water contamination?" She asked for the third time, needing to be sure.

Lorne didn't seem to mind answering her again and nodded. "That's what it looks like. It's only people who've been drinking from the one well that are sick. This morning they told me and my team it started a week or so ago when the spring runoff flooded the rivers. Ever since then more people have been getting sick until they realized what must be causing it and sealed off the well."

"That's good," she said. "Well, not good…" she corrected. "It's just easy enough to treat. They'll need some antibiotics, maybe a few additional drugs depending on the severity of the symptoms. But overall easy."

The Gate engaged, and Jen started slightly, still a little scared of the swooshy part that could kill her if she wasn't careful.

Lorne raised his gun in precaution and walked towards the Gate, not even pausing for a second before he crossed the event horizon. Jen took a deep breath and followed him, closing her eyes as she stepped through. It was stupid, but even after being off world several times she didn't like the feeling of Gate travel. Of course that could have something to do with the knowledge that her body was being dematerialized, traveling several light years and then being rematerialized on the other side.

When she opened her eyes she was standing in tall wet grass a few feet behind the major.

"You all right?" He asked. His eyes twinkled as he tried not to laugh at her obvious discomfort.

She nodded her head and squared her shoulders, shaking it off. "I'm fine. Let's get going."

He chuckled softly. "This way," he said starting down a well used, but also particularly muddy trail. She followed, doing her best not to cringe at the squelching sound of her boots in the wet dirt.

According to Lorne the village was almost two miles away, meaning they had quite a walk ahead of them. Normally a couple of miles were nothing to her, but given how badly she'd slept the night before… she doubted she was going to enjoy it.

Her training sessions with Ronon _used to_ put her at ease; help her wear off the stress of the day, and tire her so that when she fell into bed she was asleep within minutes. It seemed that wasn't the case any longer. The time they'd spent together in the gym the previous night had done everything but relax her.

She'd lain awake for hours, remembering how close he'd been, how good he'd smelt, how amazing his hands had felt on her skin… She groaned before biting her tongue, hoping Lorne hadn't heard. Thankfully he was still plunging through the mud in front of her; she was safe.

Jen had no idea what she was going to do about this newfound revelation that she definitely had feelings for Ronon, and there was a chance he might return them. She had tried the whole 'take it step by step' thing the night before, and that hadn't exactly worked out. She highly doubted that ignoring the situation would work. But then what options did that leave? There was no way she could tell him. A part of her wanted to, very much, but if she was wrong and he didn't feel the same way… it would be catastrophic for their friendship. Of course if she was right, then it would marvelous. But she had no way of knowing, and she'd never been one for gambling.

She bit back a second groan as she remembered about game night. In less than eight hours she'd be meeting up with Ronon to attend the team game night. Jen doubted she could make it through the whole time without stuttering and making a complete fool of herself in front of him. And that wasn't to mention that if they ended up playing Twister she would be beyond screwed.

"Doctor?" Lorne asked from in front of her, not pausing, but looking over his shoulder at her.

"Yes," she replied, suddenly worried that he'd said something that she had completely missed.

"You feeling okay? You seem pretty quiet, even for you."

She forced a smile and trudged on behind him. "I didn't sleep very well last night." That was part of the truth anyway.

Lorne smiled back and turned around to put his eyes back on the path. "All right." After a second he added, "So, I hear you've been training with Ronon."

Jen's muscles stiffened, but she forced herself to keep walking. "Yeah…" she replied hesitantly.

Lorne chuckled. "Just trying to make conversation."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, he's been teaching me self-defense."

"That's pretty neat."

Jen nodded even though Lorne couldn't see her. "Yeah, it's a lot more fun than I thought it'd be," she said truthfully.

"Ronon's a good teacher. He's taught me more than a thing or two. You're lucky to be spending so much time with him."

She smiled to herself. "Yeah, I am."

* * *

In Atlantis, Ronon was just leaving his quarters, heading out on a run. By some miracle the team had the day off, and he was going to take advantage of it. He might even go a lap around the entire city if he felt like it. 

As the door to his room slid shut behind him, Ronon broke into a moderate paced jog. He hadn't made it very far when he realized it felt like there was something, or rather someone missing: Jen.

He couldn't help but smile at the thought of her. It was insane how he had grown so addicted to her presence in such a relatively short period of time, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

Now when he thought back to before, when he hadn't known her, he wondered how he'd ever been happy in the city. Sure, destroying as many Wraith as possible and having the resources and people to do it with him was great, but that was only so much of it. How he had not gone crazy in the times between missions, he still wasn't sure.

She'd changed him, or had at least been the catalyst for that change. For the first time in years he felt like himself. Jen was truly an amazing woman.

He continued to run, his feet pounding out a rhythm against the hard floors of the city. His mind drifted back to the night before, and his grin widened as he remembered their training session. There was no doubt in his mind that she had finally acknowledged this thing between them.

There were a million little things that had given it away, most of them small nuances in her behavior that he was so fine-tuned to. But even if it hadn't been for the subtle things, he surely would have realized simply from the way she'd become flustered in his close proximity, stumbled over her words, not met his eyes, and lastly how she'd practically run out of the training room.

Knowing that they were both on the same page was a little frightening, he would admit. It had been so long since he'd been a situation like this, but that wasn't going to deter him in any way. He wanted this, he wanted her and it was time to finally do something about it.

* * *

When Jen followed Major Lorne into the village, she couldn't help but notice the distinct air of sadness. According to the major, who had visited earlier that morning, no one had died from the contaminated water, but there were some severe cases of sickness. That in addition to having to shut down half of the town's fresh water supply was no doubt crushing morale. 

They had barely caught sight of the large town square when people began to notice their arrival. A couple of small children ran off towards one of the dwellings and emerged a few seconds later with the two marines on Lorne's team who had stayed behind.

"Major. Doctor," they acknowledged somberly once they were within earshot.

Lorne nodded at them each once. "Anything new?" He inquired, glancing around at the growing mass of people in the meeting area as he talked.

Both marines shook their heads. "No, Sir."

Jen stepped off to the side of the square and was taking off her pack, about to ask where she could set up, when she heard a group of people coming up behind her. She whirled around just in time to see three determined looking men, closing in on her. Instinctively she took a step backward, but found a fence behind her.

"You the doctor?" The biggest man asked quietly. His voice wasn't sinister, but there was just something about his entire demeanor that set her on edge.

She nodded and tried to remain calm, even though on the inside she was panicking. "Yes," she said, raising her voice slightly so Lorne might hear her. However, he was in a deep conversation with the two marines and was too far away. Neither he nor anyone else had noticed what was going on.

"My wife and son," the man continued. "They're really sick, the sickest. Same with Lantin and Scolon's families." He inclined his head at the other men. "You're going have to come with us."

"I'm here to help everyone," Jen said slowly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that your wife and son are okay." She looked at the other two men, "And your families as well."

However, that apparently wasn't the right answer, as the next thing she knew, all three of the men had rushed her. One of them, either Lantin or Scolon grabbed her bag from her hand, tearing it away roughly, while the other pinned her arms to her side. The last man, the big one who had spoken, drew a knife from seemingly nowhere and pressed it against her throat.

The feeling of the cold sharp metal against her unprotected neck made her cry out. Distantly she heard Major Lorne calling her name, but all she could focus on was the man with the knife at her throat.

"You help us, _now_, or else I kill you. Got it?"

Instead of answering with words, she answered with actions. In one swift movement she struck out with her leg, twisting it between the legs of the man who was holding her arms and making him trip and release his hold. At the same time she leaned backward, away from the knife, and while the big man was momentarily distracted, she deflected his arm with her own. He had obviously been entirely unprepared for her to fight back, and the blade went flying.

She caught a brief glimpse of Major Lorne and the marines running towards her from across the town square, but her attention was ripped away the second the three men began grabbing at her, trying to subdue her.

Jen may have been scared out of her wits, but the countless hours of training with Ronon kicked in and her body responded to the attack automatically. For a few seconds she was forced to struggle against the overwhelming odds of three to one, but then thankfully Lorne and the marines arrived. They managed to pull Lantin and Scolon away from her, beginning their own fight, but the big man was too persistent to follow suit. Luckily, Jen was prepared.

Just like she'd been taught, she used her speed to her advantage, managing to avoid most of the punches and kicks. She fought dirty too, kicking in extremely sensitive places and using her long nails whenever they could catch hold on some of her attacker's skin: self-defense wasn't about elegance, it was about staying alive.

Somewhere in the fog of the adrenaline rush Jen knew she needed to get away from the fence, because backed up against it she was sure to lose if the man was persistent enough. So the next time he threw a punch, she didn't avoid it, but caught it and twisted, using her attacker's momentum to send them tumbling onto the ground and consequently away from the fence.

The man had landed on top of her, momentarily causing the breath to rush free of her lungs. He was gripping her shoulders as hard as he could, pinning her into the mud. Then his hands transferred to her throat, and he was choking her, trying to make her pass out. Knowing it would be futile to try and force his hands away, she grabbed a handful of mud and mashed it into his face, meanwhile ignoring the burning protest of her lungs. He turned his face to the side and spluttered, but didn't let up his hold.

Jen's vision was starting to go grey and she renewed her struggle, squirming as hard as she could in order to dislodge him. It didn't work, but she did manage to get enough purchase to knee him in the groin. He let out a howl of pain into her ear, and his hold lessened, but not enough for her to breathe. She did it again, twice, until he released her throat and rolled off her.

She was about to push herself up, ready to defend against the other two if necessary until she saw that Lorne and the marines had taken care of them; both were knocked out cold. One of the marines had walked over to her and was reaching down to haul the big man away. Knowing the fight and the danger were over she dropped her head back against the ground, ignoring the oozing of mud in her hair.

Lorne knelt down beside her and touched her shoulder gently. "You okay, Doc?"

It took her a while to catch her breath enough to answer, but eventually she said, "Yeah. I'll be fine."

Lorne smiled and stood back up, offering her a hand. She gladly accepted it, though once she was on her feet she thought she probably should have reconsidered getting up so quickly. Her entire body was shaking, and her legs felt like they were made of rubber, barely able to sustain her weight.

Once she was upright, several of the townspeople crowded around her, apologizing for the actions of the three men. "It's all right," she said reassuringly. They promised her the men would be held in the local prison until she and the rest of the expedition members left and they were to undergo a trial later. She nodded absentmindedly, still getting her bearings after the unexpected fight.

Lorne waved the townspeople away and eyed her closely. "You're _sure_ you're okay? We can head back to—"

"No," she stated firmly, cutting him off. "We're not going back to Atlantis. These people need my help, and I'm not leaving before I know they're all going to recover."

He smiled. "Your call."

She nodded. "It is, and we're staying."

Lorne grinned widely.

"What?" She asked as she tried to wring some of the mud from her hair, though not succeeding.

He shook his head, still amused. "Nothing. You just… you kinda kicked ass there, Doc. I'm impressed."

* * *

By the time Jen stepped back through the Gate to Atlantis, there was nothing she wanted more than a hot shower. Well, that and to see Ronon, to thank him. At this point she wasn't even worried about the probable awkwardness of being around him. Once the full reality of what had happened sunk in, Jen was shocked. She had managed to defend herself against not only one, but three men. And if it weren't for Ronon, she would have never accomplished that; she wouldn't have even imagined she could do it. Unfortunately though, seeing Ronon and having a hot shower were not on the top of her list. Debriefing Colonel Carter was. 

Luckily they didn't have to find Sam, as she was already in the Gate Room. "What happened?" She asked quickly, rushing down the stairs to meet them.

Jen sighed and ran a hand through her mud caked hair; no doubt it was that and the scratches and bruises on her that were giving it away.

Lorne explained briefly to the colonel. "Three of the men decided that their families needed the good doctor's help more than everyone else, so when we got there they ambushed her. They pushed her up against a fence, one of them was holding her arms and another had a knife at her throat."

"Did you shoot them?" Sam asked.

Lorne shook his head. "No, didn't have to." He smiled again, the same grin he'd worn at the village. "Looks like Dr. Keller's lessons with Ronon paid off." He face sobered slightly. "In all honesty Colonel, she handled herself amazingly. I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to try and break free from someone who was holding a knife to my throat."

Jen flushed, especially when she noticed the look of admiration on Sam's face.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that it happened. But I must say I'm proud of you."

"It was nothing…" Jen began, but Sam interrupted her.

"No, that wasn't nothing. You should be proud of yourself."

"Thanks," Jen replied quietly, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"I guess you know what that means," Sam said.

Jen shook her head, puzzled. "No…"

Sam smiled. "It means your self-defense lessons are over. You're obviously well equipped to handle something that's thrown at you, and that's all we can ask." The colonel turned to look at Lorne, asking him about the rest of the mission. Jen vaguely heard the conversation, but her mind was stuck on what Sam had said: no more lessons.

* * *

Ronon was just finishing off his dinner when he saw Sheppard walk in through the mess hall doors. After the other man got his food, Ronon caught his eye and John walked over to the otherwise empty table. 

"Hey," Sheppard said pleasantly as he took a seat.

"Hey."

John took a bite of his lasagna, half chewed it, and then swallowed before asking, "Did you hear what happened to Lorne's team today?"

Ronon instantly straightened in his chair, completely forgetting about his food—Jen had been out with Lorne's team. "No, what?"

John sipped from his water bottle before answering. "I just talked to him before I came here. Guess they ran into a bit of trouble with some unfriendly townspeople."

"What happened?" From the way John was talking, Ronon doubted anything was wrong, but he was still worried.

"Three men tried to capture Keller and make her treat their families first."

Ronon felt his heart jump. "Is she all right?" He questioned frantically.

John smiled. "Relax, buddy. She's absolutely fine. From what Lorne said maybe a couple of bruises, but that's it. Apparently she used her super awesome self-defense skills to save herself."

Ronon beamed with pride and felt a surge of relief knowing Jen was okay. "Sorry," Ronon said quickly as he stood up. "I gotta go."

John smiled. "I had a feeling you were going to say that."

* * *

Jen stepped out of the shower feeling much better than she had when she went in—all of the mud was finally gone, or so she hoped. As she stood in the small bathroom about to pull on a clean set of clothes, she caught sight of her reflection. She winced as she saw the beginnings of bruises along her collarbone and neck. They didn't surprise her really, but she had been hoping they wouldn't appear. 

Letting out a sigh, she resigned herself to the fact and pulled her shirt on, followed quickly by her pants. Leaving the bathroom she found a clean jacket on the nearby desk chair and tugged it on as well.

She walked towards the door and was about to run her hand over the light switch, planning on leaving to find Ronon, when she heard the door chime sound. She waved her hand over the other panel instead, opening the door. Although she hadn't been expecting anyone, she wasn't all that surprised to see Ronon standing in the hallway.

"I was just coming to find you," she said as she stepped to the side, letting him enter the room. As he walked past her all of her anxieties from that morning returned, and she groaned inwardly. Now was not the time to try and deal with the 'what-if-he-likes-me' issue.

Ronon stopped a couple feet away from her, and the door to her room slid shut. "I heard you ran into some trouble today."

"You did?" Jen asked, surprised. "Wow, news does travel fast around here."

He smiled. "I heard you were great."

Jen instantly blushed and looked down at the floor. "Well, I don't know about great…but I guess I did okay."

"I'm proud of you," he stated truthfully.

Her blush deepened, and something in his eyes sent a pleasant shiver up her spine while at the same time making her stomach knot in anticipation.

"Thank you," she blurted out as she remembered that's what she'd been going to tell him.

Ronon shrugged. "You're the one who did all the work."

Jen titled her head and laughed lightly. "No, not really. Honestly, Ronon, thank you for teaching me."

Ronon smiled at her again. "You're welcome."

Sam's words suddenly floated into Jen's mind and she sighed unhappily.

"What's wrong?" Ronon inquired, picking up on her change of mood right away.

His hand came up to rest on one of her shoulders and she had to force herself not to overreact to the gesture. He was showing concern; it didn't necessarily mean he liked her like that. After all, it wasn't like he had kissed her…

Forcing her mind back on track, Jen responded. "It's just something Colonel Carter said." She let out a deep breath before continuing. "The lessons… they're over," she finished meekly. "I guess now that I can defend myself I don't need them." It was the truth, but there was no conviction behind her words. She didn't need the lessons in that she needed the training; she needed them because they were the highlight of her day, even when they were filled with her worrying about the Ronon situation.

"Okay," Ronon said softly, seeming maybe just a little upset.

"But," Jen continued. "I don't know, maybe we could still practice every now and then?" She asked hopefully. "You know, so I don't forget anything."

Ronon smiled and ran his thumb along the top of her shoulder lightly, causing delicious shivers. "We can do that."

She smiled back, feeling comforted. "Good."

"We could also just keep hanging out, do whatever we want: train, run, play games, watch movies…"

Ronon was staring at her intently, and suddenly Jen found the room becoming too warm. "That'd be good," she said, struggling to get the words out.

Ronon's grin widened. "I like spending time with you, Jen."

The flush rose back onto her face and she felt her heart pounding against her ribs. "I like spending time with you too," she replied slowly, unsure where this conversation was headed. She'd only been planning to say thank you…

They continued to stare at each other for several seconds, until the silence became too much and Jen began to ramble, like she always did when she was nervous. "I really like spending time with you. I always have fun, no matter what we're doing. You're the sweetest guy I've ever met, and my probably my best friend… and I'm making a complete fool of myself…"

She broke his gaze and was about to turn to leave until Ronon whispered her name, freezing her in place. Looking back at him, she saw traces of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite pinpoint… and the next thing she knew he was kissing her.

His lips were surprisingly soft against hers—it was the only thought that came through before her mind stopped working and her body responded. Her hands made their way around the back of his neck as his moved to cup her face. She was about to shift closer when Ronon slowly pulled away.

Feeling more than a little dazed, Jen gazed up at him in confusion.

"I've been wanting to do that for a long time," he said softly.

It took a second for the meaning of his words to sink in, but when they did she blushed and bit her lip nervously. "Oh," was all she could manage, before grinning like an idiot.

Ronon returned the smile before leaning down to kiss her again. This time she wasn't caught so off guard. The kiss was slow, languid and absolutely divine. Heat and passion were there too, but underneath the surface. It wasn't about trying to consume each other in a blaze of infatuation; it was so much more than that.

Jen was sure she could kiss Ronon forever, but unfortunately they were only human and were eventually forced to break apart from lack of oxygen. Ronon leaned his forehead lightly against hers, eyes partially closed as they both regained their breath.

"Wow," Jen said when she could eventually manage words.

Ronon chuckled and angled his head to kiss her forehead lightly. "Yeah."

"What do we do now?" She whispered, pulling back just enough so that she could see his entire face.

Ronon glanced at his watch at smiled. "Now we go to game night."

Jen laughed, having completely forgotten about it. "Okay," she said, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.

They stepped into the corridor, and as they started walking Jen felt Ronon's hand slide into hers, squeezing once. A rush of euphoria hit her—she could not believe how lucky she was. Turning her head, she beamed up at him before squeezing his hand in return.

The End

**A/N:** I just want to say thank you to everyone who has followed this story. hugs


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